MASTER 
NEGATIVE 
NO.  91-80030 


MICROEDLMED  1991 
COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES/NEW  YORK 


as  part  of  the 
Foundations  of  Western  Civilization  Preservation  Project 


Funded  by  the 
NATIONAL  ENDOWMENT  FOR  THE  HUMANITIES 


Reproductions  may  not  be  made  without  permission  from 

Columbia  University  Library 


COPYRIGHT  STATEMENT 

The  copyright  law  of  the  United  States  -  Title  17,  United 
States  Code  -  concerns  the  making  of  photocopies  or  other 
reproductions  of  copyrighted  material... 

Columbia  University  Library  reserves  the  right  to  refuse  to 
accept  a  copy  order  if,  in  its  judgement,  fulfillment  of  the  order 
would  involve  violation  of  the  copyright  law. 


AUTHOR: 


HODGETTS,  EDWARD 


TITLE: 


GLORIOUS  RUSSIA 


PLACE: 


LONDON 


DA  TE : 


1915 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 


Master  Negative  # 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARGET 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  BiblioprraphirJRprnrH 


947 

H667 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


Hodgetts,  Edward  Arthur  Brayley,  1859- 

Glorlous  Ru3sia^  Its  life,  people  and  destiny* 

Bristol,  J«  W«  Arrowsmith;  London,  Slmpkin, 

Marshall,  Hamilton,  Kent,  1915* 
179  p. 


!♦  Russia.  I.  Title • 


; 


TECHNICAL  MICROFORM  DATA 


^■^  yy^n^ 


FILM     SIZE: JLJ'..^ '^^  REDUCTION    RATIO: //K 

IMAGE  PLACEMENT:   \h    mJ  IB    IIB  ~^  ' 

DATE     FILMED: ^/^^/ INITIALS jn^_ 

HLMEDBY:    RESEARCH  PUBLICATIONS.  INC  WOODBRIDGE.  CT 


1 

J. 

Association  for  information  and  image  iManagement 

1100  Wayne  Avenue,  Suite  1100 
Silver  Spring,  Maryland  20910 

301/587-8202 


Centimeter 


} 


mi 


llllilllMllllllllllllllilllMl 


4         5        6         7        8 

iiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliii 


9        10       11       12 

iiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiil 


13       14 

iiliiiiliiiili 


15    mm 


II 


I     I 


Inches 


I  I  1 1 1 


1 


1 1 1  I  I  I  I  I  I 

2  3 


.0 


I.I 


1.25 


TTT 


TTT 


4 


lih^  1   2.8 

12.5 

i^ 

|.        3.2 

2.2 

■  63 

^  1^ 

2.0 

I& 

t^      u 

SilLU. 

1.8 

1.4 

1.6 

MfiNUFfiCTURED  TO  fillM  STONDRRDS 
BY  RPPLIED  IMRGE.    INC. 


i, 


bus 


III 


Si 


Glorious 

Russia 


ITS   LIFE,  PEOPLE 
AND   DESTINY 


i3l 


E.A.  BRAYLEY  HODGETTS 


i 


THE  LIBRARIES 


i 


\ 


■I 


Glorious  Russia 

ITS    LIFE,    PEOPLE 
AND   DESTINY 


BV 


E.    A.    BRAYLEY    HODGETTS 

AUTHOR    OP 

■In  the  Track  of  the  Russian  Famine."    "Round  About  Armenia" 
The  Court  of  Russia  in  the  Nineteenth  Century" 
The  Life  of  Catherine  the  Great  of  Russia" 
etc.,  etc. 


BRISTOL 
J.  W.  Arrowsmith  Ltd.,  Quay  Street 

Ct^«         ,*  LONDON 

SiMPKiN,  Marshall,  Hamilton.  Kent  and  Co.  Limited 

1915 


57505D 


i 


CO 

I 

en 


PREFACE 


This  book  is  addressed  to  the  general  public  rather 
than  the  student.  The  latter  is  referred  to  the 
profound  and  exhaustive  work  of  Sir  Donald 
Mackenzie  Wallace,  which  has  been  recently 
republished  in  a  new  edition. 

The  historical  works  of  the  late  Mr.  Nisbet 
Bain  and  of  Mr.  F.  H.  Skrine  may  also  be 
recommended. 

Of  lighter  books  on  Russia  there  have  lately 
been  several,  notably  the  graceful  sketches  of 
the  Honble.  Maurice  Baring  and  Mr.  Stephen 
Graham. 

So  far,  however,  there  has  been  no  attempt  to 
place  before  the  British  public  a  comprehensive 
and  popular  survey  of  the  great  country  with 
which  we  are  so  fortimate  as  to  be  allied. 

Now  that  the  friendship  of  the  British  and 
Russian  Empires  has  been  cemented  by  blood,  it 
should  receive  a  foundation  of  mutual  understanding 


m 


PREFACE 

and  knowledge,  towards  which  the  present  modest 
work  may  assist  in  paving  the  way. 

A  word  regarding  the  title.  In  Russian  "  Slava  " 
means  glory,  and  hence  the  Slav  Race  is,  as  it 
has  indeed  proved  itself  to  be,  a  Glorious  Race. 

E.    A.    BRAYLEY    HODGETTS. 

London,  September,  191 5. 


M 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 


THE  AUTOCRACY 


RELIGION 


CHAPTER   II 


CHAPTER  III 
ARISTOCRACY  AND   THE   TCHIN    . 


CHAPTER  IV 


EDUCATION 


CHAPTER  V 
THE   PEASANT  AND   VILLAGE   LIFE 

CHAPTER   VI 
THE   WORKING  CLASSES       . 


7 


21 


34 


47 


59 


73 


THE   ARMY 


CHAPTER  VII 


m 


TOWN   LIFE 


CHAPTER  VIII 


.       102 


SIBERIA 


CHAPTER  IX 


114 


IV 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  X 

Pfl«# 

THE  CAUCASUS             .... 

• 

.      125 

CHAPTER  XI 

CENTRAL  ASIA 

• 

.       136 

• 

CHAPTER   XII 

GERMAN   INFLUENCE 

• 

•    143 

CHAPTER  XIII 


BRITISH   PROSPECTS  . 


CHAPTER   XIV 


THE   FUTURE     . 


153 


169 


Glorious  Russia 


CHAPTER   I 


THE    AUTOCRACY 

A  GREAT  Russian  novelist,  Tourgeniev,  has  stated 
that  his  country  differed  from  all  European  nations 
in  so  far  that  whilst  reforms  in  the  West  had  come 
as  the  result  of  revolution  or  agitation  from  below, 
the  reforms  in  Russia  had  come  from  above.  They 
had,  in  short,  been  conferred  on  the  country  by  its 
Emperors.  This  was  a  great  tribute  from  a  man 
who  had  suffered  exile  for  his  political  opinions  and 
writings,  and  who  can  not  be  described  as  even 
remotely  a  courtier.  He  was  fearless,  and  told  the 
people  what  he  thought,  without  considering  whether 
it  was  pleasant  to  them  or  agreeable  to  the  govern- 
ment, and  he  was  consequently  liked  by  neither. 
But  what  he  said  was  true.  All  revolutionary 
attempts  to  bring  about  changes  in  the  government  of 
Russia  or  its  methods  seem  doomed  to  failure.  On 
the  other  hand,  when  changes  become  necessary  they 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

are  introduced  by  her  rulers.  This  is  a  most  extra- 
ordinary fact,  which  goes  to  prove  to  what  an  extent 
the  Russian  throne  is  a  national  institution,  imbued 
with  a  sense  of  national  duty.  In  no  country  have 
the  rulers  been  more  in  complete  accord  and 
S5niipathy  with  their  people,  and  in  those  exceptional 
cases  where  they  fell  short  of  the  national  ideal  and 
lost  touch  with  the  will  of  their  subjects  they  came 
to  a  sad  end,  and  indirectly  committed  suicide. 
The  remarkable  manner  in  which  the  Tzars  of  Russia 
seemed  to  scent  what  was  expected  of  them,  and  to 
know  instinctively  which  line  to  take,  fills  the  student 
with  wonder. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  case  of  the  creator  of  the 
modem  Russian  Empire,  the  man  whom  I  have 
elsewhere  called  Russia's  first  Nihilist,  Peter  the 
Great.  The  manner  of  his  coming  to  the  throne, 
of  asserting  himself,  and  of  introducing  modernity 
into  his  country  was  almost  supernatural.  Here  was 
a  young  fellow  who  with  his  brother  was  joint 
Tzar  of  Muscovy,  whose  mother,  a  Hamilton  on  her 
mother's  side,  was  in  disgrace  for  behig  too 
European,  and  whose  aunt,  the  Princess  Sophia,  the 
Regent,  was  actively  intriguing  against  him  in 
favour  of  his  half-witted  half-brother.  Rumour 
hath  it  that  Peter's  real  father  was  a  German 
sergeant  of  phenomenal  physique,  who  had  found 
favour  with  the  Tzaritza  NataHa,  his  mother ;  but 
whatever  the  truth  of  that  story  may  be,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  Peter  was  what  is  commonly 

8 


THE   AUTOCRACY 

called  daft.  He  had  a  bee  in  his  bonnet,  and  early 
developed  a  tendency  for  strong  drink,  low  company 
and  extravagant  behaviour.  Yet  he  was  to  become 
the  great  regenerator  of  his  country. 

Peter  had  an  hereditary  bias  in  favour  of  European 
manners  and  customs  from  his  mother,  and  both  his 
reputed  father  and  grandfather  had  coquetted  with 
Western  ideas.  Brought  up  in  the  village  of 
Preobrajensky,  he  played  at  soldiers  with  his 
companions,  hence  the  Preobrajensky  Guards,  and 
later  spent  his  time  in  the  German  quarter  of  Moscow 
carousing  with  the  members  of  the  German  colony, 
which  was  already  a  feature  of  that  capital. 

When  the  time  came  for  him  to  assert  himself  he 
showed  at  an  early  age  an  unprecedented  amount 
of  initiative  and  determination  of  character  which 
surprised  everyone,  and  a  relentless  energy  and 
severity  which  effectively  quelled  disaffection.  Whilst 
there  was  much  that  was  lovable  about  Peter  the 
Great,  his  fierce  harshness  and  furious  temper  made 
him  terrible  in  the  eyes  of  his  subjects.  And  yet  his 
appearance  was  a  political  necessity,  and  such  his 
subjects  felt  it  to  be. 

To  the  British  public  he  is  chiefly  knowTi  for  having 
put  his  son  to  death  after  torturing  him,  for  having 
defeated  Charles  XII.  and  the  Turks,  and  for  building 
a  new  capital  on  a  swamp.  But  he  did  much  more. 
He  remodelled  the  government,  introduced  plan  and 
system  where  there  had  before  been  chaos,  and 
fostered  trade.     He  taught  his  country  the  applied 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 


arts  of  the  West  by  first  serving  an  apprenticeship 
as  a  common  working-man  in  Holland  himself,  and 
by  importing  into  his  country  foreigners,  principally 
from  England  and  Germany,  to  teach  his  subjects 
what  he  had  so  laboriously  learned. 

Carlyle  made  a  hero  of  Frederick  the  Great,  but 
surely  Peter  was  far  more  of  a  hero.  Imagine  an 
autocratic  ruler  on  whose  word  an  entire  nation 
depended,  who  had  absolute  power  of  life  and  death, 
and  had  displayed  an  unflinching  ability  to  exercise 
th^t  power,  voluntarily  going  abroad  disguised  as 
a  common  journeyman  carpenter,  and  practising  his 
trade  under  strenuous  conditions  in  foreign  countries, 
so  as  to  be  able  to  show  his  subjects  an  example  of 
industry  and  skill !  Whilst  never  surrendering  the 
least  iota  of  power,  he  was  nevertheless  most 
thoroughly  democratic  in  his  intercourse  with  all  and 
sundry.  He  hated  empty  pomps  and  vanities,  but 
insisted  on  efficiency.  With  his  familiars  he  was  on 
extraordinary  terms,  pretending  in  many  cases  to  be 
under  their  command,  and  certainly  it  may  be  said 
of  him  that  he  fully  acted  up  to  the  scriptural 
injunction  that  "  whosoever  of  you  will  be  the 
chief  est,  shall  be  the  servant  of  all.*' 

His  faults  were  many  and  deplorable,  and  led  to 
his  early  death  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  racl^ed  by 
disease,  but  his  genius  has  never  been  in  doubt,  and 
even  to-day  Russian  historians  quote  his  memoranda 
and  sayings  in  witness  of  his  extraordinary  wisdom 
and   far-sightedness.     He   seems  to  have   foreseen 

lO 


I 


THE   AUTOCRACY 

everything,  and  Catherine  II.  when  in  difficulties 
invariably  found  an  answer  in  the  trenchant  and 
brilliant  dicta  he  had  left  as  a  heritage  to  his 
successors. 

Peter  I.  died  in  1725,  and  Catherine  the  Great  did 
not  ascend  the  throne  until  1760.  During  that 
period  Russia  was  virtually  neglected.  Her  rulers 
were  too  much  engaged  with  their  own  petty  affairs 
to  devote  much  time  to  the  State,  and  so  the  reforms 
introduced  by  Peter  the  Great  bore  but  little  fruit. 
But  the  destiny  of  the  Empire  seemed  to  triumph 
over  the  futility  of  her  rulers,  for  under  Anne  and 
Elizabeth  Russia  made  enormous  strides  in  power 
and  importance.  The  progress  of  the  country  might 
be  retarded,  it  could  not  be  arrested ;  the  efforts  of 
our  Hanoverian  Kings  and  of  the  selfish  rulers  of 
German  states  were  powerless  to  hinder  her  in  her 
historical  mission  or  to  hmit  her  frontiers.  Like 
some  primeval  natural  force,  Russia  has  irresistibly 
grown  in  volume  and  energy,  and  no  effort  to  stop  her 
has  availed,  nor  have  her  own  mistakes  and  short- 
comings apparently  affected  her. 

When  Elizabeth — under  whom  Russia  had  been 
benevolently  and  prudently  governed  with  the  aid  of 
such  statesmen  as  Bestujev  Ryumin — died,  she  was 
succeeded  by  her  nephew,  Peter  III.,  a  contemptible 
person,  a  traitor  to  his  country,  and  the  disciple  and 
admirer  of  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia.  His 
treatment  of  the  army  and  the  church  and  his 
blindness  to  the  true  interests  of  his  adopted  country, 


II 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

which  he  regarded  as  of  but  secondary  importance  in 
comparison  with  those  of  his  own  Duchy  of  Holstein, 
created  so  much  dissatisfaction  that  he  was  deposed 
without  difficulty,  and  subsequently  inadvertently 
murdered,  whilst  his  wife,  the  beautiful  Catherine, 
was  made  his  successor.    Catherine  has  been  much 
reproached  for  the  immorality  of  her  private  Hfe, 
though  why  she  should  have  been  especially  singled 
out  for  blame  it  is  difficult  to  understand.     Those 
were  days  when  morals  were  lax  all  the  world  over, 
and  more   especially  in   Russia.     Catherine's  pre- 
decessors, Elizabeth,  Anne  and  Catherine  I.,  had 
certainly  been  no  more  virtuous  than  she,  who  at 
least  knew  how  to  maintain  a  dignified  court,  and 
attracted  to  her  capital  men  of  fight  and  leading 
from    every    part    of    Europe.      She    was    a  great 
patroness  of  the  arts,  and  under  her  reign  the  country 
flourished    exceedingly    in    every    department    of 
activity.    She  introduced  arts  and  letters,  newspapers 
and  theatres,  and  promoted  manufactures  and  trades. 
It  was  under  her  that  Turkey  was  seriously  humbled, 
and  lost  some  of  its  richest  provinces  to  Russia. 
She  also  sowed  the  seeds  of  representative  govern- 
ment by  organising  the  nobility  into  corporate  bodies 
and  creating  municipafities.    It  was  under  Catherine 
that  the  dreams  of  Panslavism  first  took  a  sort  of 
nebulous  shape.     She  caused  her  second  grandson 
to    be    christened    Constantine,  with    the    idea    of 
emancipating  Greece  from  Turkey,  and  revivmg  a 
Byzantine  state  with  its  capital  at  Constantinople 


THE   AUTOCRACY 

-under  his  rule.  As  she  wrote  to  her  confidant, 
Grimm,  '*  After  all,  such  a  sfice  of  Turkey  would  not 
make  a  bad  portion  for  a  younger  son."  But 
Catherine  did  not  live  long  enough  to  realise  any  of 
these  dreams,  though  she  planted  the  seed  of  a  noble 
idea,  the  emancipation  of  the  Christian  provinces 
of  Turkey  from  Ottoman  rule,  a  dream  which  is  at 
last  coming  true. 

Catherine,  after  causing  her  grand-children  to  be 
brought  up  in  the  latest  ideas  of  the  French  philo- 
sophers, and  the  visionary  theories  of  universal 
brotherhood,  which  were  the  intellectual  stimulants 
of  the  French,  died,  and  left  the  succession  to  her  son 
Paul,  who  closely  resembled  Peter  III.  in  character 
and  temperament,  was  quite  as  pro-German,  and 
quite  as  unpopular.  He  retained  his  throne  for  a  little 
over  four  years,  and  then  was  murdered,  much  as 
Peter  III.  had  been,  by  the  nobles  and  courtiers  who 
knew  that  he  was  ruining  his  countrj^.  Whether  his 
murderers  were  animated  by  purely  patriotic  motives, 
or  whether  they  hoped  to  benefit  themselves  by 
placing  on  the  throne  the  young  and  inexperienced 
Alexander,  whose  sentimental  views  and  amiable 
disposition  had  led  pjeople  to  base  the  greatest  hopes 
on  him,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  But  the  murder  of 
Paul  is  yet  another  illustration  of  the  dependence  of 
the  autocrat  on  the  sympathies  of  the  people. 

With  the  accession  of  Alexander  I.  it  may  be  said 
that  the  imperial  office  underwent  a  remarkable  and 
radical  change.     The  tone  of  the  court  was  much 


13 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

improved,  and  the  efficiency  of  the  Government  was 
immeasurably  increased.  Alexander  I.  started  as  a 
liberal  ruler,  and  is  believed  to  have  been  honestly 
desirous  of  introducing  into  practice  and  applying  to 
politics  the  beautiful  theories  he  had  been  taught  by 
his  Swiss  tutor,  La  Harpe.  He  surrounded  himself 
with  broad-minded  statesmen,  such  as  Prince  Adam 
Czartorisky  and  Speransky,  and  even  instructed 
the  latter  to  draw  up  a  scheme  of  constitutional 
government,  a  State  Duma,  but  unfortunately  the 
machinations  of  reactionary  sycophants,  the  war  with 
Napoleon,  and  the  baneful  influence  of  Mettemich, 
added  to  certain  manifestations  of  political  unrest, 
which  took  the  form  of  secret  societies  masquerading 
in  the  guise  of  free-masonry,  caused  him  to  turn  from 
his  early  associates,  and  to  favour  the  sterner  counsels 
of  his  military  advisers.  Alexander  I.  died  of  a  fever 
in  the  South  of  Russia,  a  disappointed  man.  A 
legend  exists  in  Russia  that  he  did  not  really  die  at 
all,  but  escaped  from  the  cares  of  State  to  lead  the 
life  of  a  recluse  in  Siberia.  The  fabulous  nature  of  this 
legend  has  now  been  satisfactorily  exposed  by  the 
Grand-Duke  Nicholas,  and  was  demonstrated  by 
the  present  writer  in  an  earlier  work. 

Alexander  I.  was  succeeded  by  his  brother 
Nicholas  I.,  the  founder  of  splendid  traditions.  On 
his  accession  he  was  confronted  by  a  mutiny  of  the 
guards  fomented  by  the  secret  societies  to  which 
reference  has  just  been  made.  Nicholas  was  a 
soldier,  and  whilst  a  very  just  and  fair-minded  man, 


M 


THE   AUTOCRACY 

a  very  stem  ruler,  and  he  put  down  the  mutiny  with 
a  strong  hand,  and  ruled  his  country  with  a  rod  of 
iron.  His  intimates  assert  that  he  was  at  heart 
imbued  with  liberal  ideas,  and  prepared  the  way  for 
constitutional  government  and  the  emancipation  of 
the  peasants.  But  whatever  his  views  may  have 
been,  he  had  but  Httle  sympathy  with  people  who  did 
not  see  eye  to  eye  with  him.  He  had  been  educated 
for  the  army,  and  as  he  was  his  father's  third  son  he 
never  expected  to  reign.  His  eldest  brother,  however, 
had  no  issue,  and  Constantine,  the  next  in  succession, 
voluntarily  waived  his  right  to  the  throne  in  order  to 
marry  a  Polish  lady.  The  wife  of  Nicholas  was  the 
daughter  of  the  famous  Queen  Louise  of  Prussia, 
whose  life-long  platonic  friend  and  admirer 
Alexander  I.  had  been,  and  her  favourite  brother 
was  that  splendid  historical  figure  who  became 
William  I.  of  Prussia,  and  later  first  German 
Emperor. 

Alexander  I.  had  always  befriended  Prussia,  and  his 
brother  Nicholas  was  described  by  Pushkin,  the  poet, 
in  some  secretly-circulated  satirical  verses  in  the 
following  lines  : — 

'*  Our  Emperor 's  a  Prussian, 
A  German  not  a  Russian." 

The  traditions  of  friendship  to  Prussia  and  Austria, 
which  Nicholas  maintained,  notably  in  1848  when 
he  massed  troops  on  the  Polish  frontier  and  marched 
an  army  into  Hungary  to  quell  the  Kossuth  rebellion, 
received  a  rude  shock  a  few  years  later  when  Russia 


15 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


in  her  turn  needed  the  friendship  of  her  two  neigh- 
bours, but  was  left  in  the  lurch  by  them,  and  had  to 
face   single   handed   the   allied   armies   of  Turkey, 
France,    England    and    Sardinia.      Not    only    did 
Prussia  and  Austria  desert  their  friend  and  former 
"  Holy  Ally,''  but  they  actually  intrigued   against 
her.     Nicholas    I.    was   a   simple,    straightforward 
soldier,  no  diplomatist,  but  a  very  clever  and  far- 
seeing  man   nevertheless.     He   saw   ahead   of  his 
generation.     To  him  the  dismemberment  of  Turkey 
was  so  inevitable  and  so  patent  a  fact,  that  he  could 
not  imagine  that  it  was  not  equally  obvious  to  his 
contemporaries.     His  manly  proposals  to  England 
were  nevertheless  received  with  distrust,   and  we 
preferred  the  insincerities  of  Napoleon  III.  to  the 
honest  friendship  of  Nicholas  I.,  and  yet  we  are  to-day 
virtually  carrying  out  his  ideas.     Egypt  is  already 
ours  as  he  proposed  it  should  be,  and  Constantinople 
is  about  to  be  restored  to  the  Slavs.    Nicholas  I.,  who 
had  been  brought  up  by  a  Scottish  nurse,  was  ^ 
sincere  admirer  of  the  Enghsh  and  of  our  literature. 
He  was  fond  of  reading  Sir  Walter  Scott's  novels 
aloud  to  his  wife,  but  he  did  not  admire  our  system 
of  party  government,  and  would  never  have  imitated 
his  brother,  who  asked  Earl  Grey  whether  he  could 
assist  him  in  the  creation  of  an  opposition  on  English 
lines  in  Russia.    Eari  Grey  is  reported  to  have  replied 
that  his  Majesty  need  but  introduce  parliamentary 
government  into  Russia,  and  he  would  have  as  much 
opposition  as  he  could  possibly  wish. 

i6 


THE   AUTOCRACY 

Nicholas  I.  had  no  such  morbid  cravings,  but  his 
loyal  nature  was  rudely  shocked  by  the  self-seeking 
attitude  of  his  neighbours.    The  Crimean  War  killed 
him ;  it  did  more,  it  revolutionised  Russia.   Just  as  in 
the  days  preceding  the  accession  of  Peter  the  Great  the 
Western  winds  had  already  begun  to  blow  into  Russia, 
and,  as  it  were,  heralded  the  thaw  of  old  institutions 
and  the  springtime  of  a  new  era,  so  the  Crimean  War 
had  but  brought  to  a  head  tendencies  and  ideas  that 
had  first  taken  nebulous  shape  under  the  cultured 
reign  of  Catherine  II.,  to  be  philandered  with  by 
Alexander  I.    It  was  impossible  to  share  with  French 
philosophers  a  belief  in  the  rights  of  man,  and  yet 
refuse  them  to  the  bulk  of  the  population  of  one's 
own  country.     The  problem  of   emancipating  the 
peasantry  of  Russia  from  serfdom,  a  condition  of 
bondage  distinguished  in  theory  only  from  slavery, 
seemed,  however,  so  appallingly  difficult  that  both 
Alexander  I.  and  his  brother  Nicholas  lacked  the 
courage  to  try  to  solve  it.     Any  student  of  the 
growth   of   factory   legislation   in   England   during 
the  last  century  will  readily  comprehend  how  slow 
must  have  been  the  progress  of  the  emancipation 
movement  in   Russian  society.     But  the  problem 
which  was  too  difficult  for  his  father  and  his  uncle 
was  left  as  a  heritage  to  Alexander  II.,  who  when 
he   ascended  the    throne    may  be    described  as  a 
disillusioned  young  man,  disappointed  in  the  tradi- 
tional methods  of  his  predecessors,  deserted  by  the 
former  friends  and  allies  of  his  father,  and  not  too 


2 


17 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

trustful  of  his  own  people.  Educated,  as  he  had  been 
by  the  idealist  poet,  Joukovski,  and  brought  up  by 
a  father  who  never  relaxed  his  iron  discipline  to  his 
death,  who  had  gone  near  ruining  his  son's  splendid 
constitution  by  over-work,  and  had  taught  him  that 
the  whole  burden  of  the  State  lay  on  his  own  shoulders, 
and  that  there  was  nobody  in  the  Empire  who  could 
be  trusted  to  reheve  him  of  any  part  of  that  burden, 
young  Alexander  had  grown  up  to  be  somewhat  of 
a  cynic.  He  discounted  the  idealism  of  his  father  as 
much  as  he  suspected  the  sincerity  of  the  school  of 
liberal  thinkers  who  had  some  few  years  ago  brought 
the  whole  of  Europe  to  the  verge  of  revolution. 

Elegant,  gentlemanly,  highly  cultured,  rather  in- 
dolent and  easy-going,  but  most  kindly  good  natured 
and  well  disposed  towards  all  the  world,  for  which, 
by  the  way,  he  had  a  sort  of  tolerant  contempt, 
Alexander  II.  found  himself  on  ascending  the  throne 
faced   with   the   problem   of   having   to   save   and 
redeem  his  country.    He  succeeded  in  bringing  the 
senseless  Crimean  War  to  a  speedy  termination, 
thanks   to   very   intelligent   diplomacy,    and   then 
started  tackling  those  internal  reforms  which  insisted 
on  being  made.    The  war  had  revealed  to  the  whole 
of  Russia  that  the  old  order  was  antiquated  and 
rotten,  and  must  go,  but  the  new  order    which  was 
to  take  its  place  had  yet  to  be  evolved.    There  is  no 
space  in  this  brief  review  of  the  development  of  the 
modem   Russian    State   to   dwell   on   the   various 
influences  at  work  in  those  days.    Suffice  it  to  say 


i8 


THE   AUTOCRACY 

that  within  an  almost  incredibly  short  time,  barely 
five  years,  the  whole  structure  of  Russian  societv 
was  remodelled,  and  this  without  friction  or  untoward 
mcident,  and  on  lines  that  can  only  be  described  as 
liberal  m  the  extreme.  The  peasant  was  not  only  given 
his  freedom,  but  he  was  also  given  land,  and  in  order 
that  he  might  not  lightly  lose  his  suddenly-acquired 
property,  it  was  not  given  to  him  individually,   but 
to  the  village  commune  collectively.     The  emanci- 
pation of  the  serf,  moreover,  carried  with  it  in  its  train 
the  institution  of  open  oral  law  courts,  at  which 
cases  were  conducted  in  the  eye  of  the  public   and 
tnal  by  jury  was  first  introduced.    The  principle  of 
self-government  was  also   recognised,    but   not   in 
pohtical  matters-these  were  hardly  the  concern  of 
the  uneducated  people-solely  in   local   questions. 
Ihus  Russia  possessed  Zemstvos  on  which  peasants 
sat   and   voted  quite   a  generation   before   we   in 
England  had  County  Councils  and  a  Local  Govern- 
ment  Act. 

The  benefits  derived  from  these  reforms  were  great 
Russia  progressed  by  leaps  and  bounds,  but  like  all 
human  effort,  the  new  methods  were  found  to  be 
imperfect.    Some  people  were  disappointed  because 
the  reforms  did  not  go  far  enough,  others  were 
disgusted  because  they  went  too  far.    In  the  midst 
of  dissatisfaction   and   troubles   of  various   kinds 
amongst  which  the  attempts  at  the  public  assassina- 
tion of  the  Emperor,  an  unheard-of  thing  hitherto 
were  not   the  least   disconcerting,   the   Panslavist 

19 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

party  engineered  the   Russo-Turkish  War.     When, 
after  its  victorious  conclusion,  the  people  discovered 
that  whilst  they  had  been  fighting  for  the  pohtical 
liberation  of  their  brother  Slavs  in  the  Balkans  they 
themselves  were  to  receive  no  further  pohtical  privi- 
leges, the  dissatisfaction  was  great,  and  Russia  was 
on  the  verge  of  revolution.     It  was  at  that  critical 
moment  that  the   Emperor  was  reputed  to  have 
approved  a  draft  constitution  which  he  was  about 
to  sign  when  he  was  murdered.  His  son  and  successor, 
Alexander  III.,  had  but  little  s^onpathy  with  political 
ideas,  but  was  endowed  with  strong  common  sense. 
He  saw  that  what  Russia  required  was  a  period  of 
rest  wherein  to  recuperate  and  develop  her  resources. 
Under  his  somewhat  reactionary  rule  Russia  was 
firmly     but     quietly     governed,     while     his     son, 
Nicholas  II.,  has  placed  the  crown  on  the  edifice  of 
the  Russian  Commonwealth  by  creating  a  Duma, 
literally  a  '*  thinking  place." 


20 


CHAPTER    II 


RELIGION 


Every  nation  and  every  person  has  three  kinds  of 
religion.  There  is  the  religion  of  the  heart,  the  religion 
of  the  head,  and  the  religion  of  the  mouth  ;  or  the 
religion  of  life,  the  religion  of  theory,  and  the  religion 
of  outward  show.  Swedenborg,  a  great  philosopher, 
laid  it  down  that  all  religion  had  relation  to  hfe, 
and  that  the  rehgion  of  hfe  was  to  do  good.  Conse- 
quently it  follows  that  conduct  is  more  important 
than  anything  else,  or,  to  quote  St.  Paul,  that  "  the 
greatest  of  these  is  charity.'* 

The   official   religion    of   the    Russian   nation   is 
described  by  them  as  the  Pravoslavnaya  Vera,  or 
the  Faith  of  True  Blessedness,  commonly  translated 
as    the    Orthodox    Greek    Church.      It    is    called 
the  Greek  Church  because  it  reached  Russia  via 
Byzantium  and  Constantinople,  hence  it  has  never 
been  subject  to  Rome  or  to  the  bishops  of  that  city, 
who  later  assumed  the  title  of  Pope.     In  Russia 
every  priest  is  a  pope,  but  strangely  enough  the 
ordinary  Russian  pop/s  lays  no  claim  to  infalhbility, 
but  is,  on  the  contrary,  a  very  human  person,  who 
is  not  only  permitted,  but  virtually  compelled,  to 


21 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


RELIGION 


marry,  and  who  makes  no  pretence  to  immunity 
from  human  weakness.  In  many  respects  the  Greek 
Church  resembles  the  Roman  CathoHc,  inasmuch  as 
that  in  both  Churches  saints  are  worshipped,  including 
the  Virgin  Mary,  High  Mass  is  said,  the  Eucharist 
exhibited,  the  confessional  enforced,  and  monasti- 
cism  permitted.  There  are,  however,  many 
differences  between  East  and  West,  between  the 
Greek  and  the  Roman  Churches.  We  will  commence 
with  the  most  obvious  things.  In  the  first  place 
the  church  architecture  is  entirely  different.  In 
Western  Europe  the  principal  characteristics  of  the 
churches  are  the  spire  and  the  aisle,  both  suggestive 
of  the  forest.  The  interior  of  a  Western  church  is 
always  reminiscent  of  a  majestic  grove  of  trees.  In 
Russia  the  principal  feature  of  the  church  is  its  dome. 
Generally  a  Russian  church  is  like  nothing  so  much 
as  a  cruet-stand  or  a  cluster  of  towers  surmounted 
by  dome-like  cupolas,  these  are  preferably  gilt  or 
silvered,  though  more  frequently  they  are  painted 
green  or  blue.  In  the  interior  the  idea  of  the  aisle 
is  not  followed.  The  space  is  square.  The  altar  is 
separated  from  the  public  by  gates,  which  are  only 
flung  open  at  certain  times.  There  are  no  seats,  the 
congregation  stands,  and  although  the  good  offices 
of  the  saints  are  propitiated  by  wax  candles,  as  in 
the  West,  the  service  is  vocal,  unaided  by  instru- 
mental music,  the  only  organ  is  the  human  voice. 
The  choir  sing  a  chant  not  altogether  unhke  the 
Gregorian,  but  more  importance  is  attached  to  the 


bass  than  to  the  treble.  The  language  in  which  the 
service  is  conducted  and  in  which  the  gospels  are 
read  is  archaic,  and  called  Church  Slavonic,  but  it  is 
understood  by  the  congregation,  and  is  almost 
identical  with  Bulgarian.  It  is  not  a  totally  different 
language,  such  as  e.g.  Latin.  Sermons  are  the 
exception,  and  vespers  are  always  on  the  eve  of  the 
day  on  which  the  morning  service  is  held.  Vespers 
are  called  "  all-night "  services,  although  this  is  a 
misnomer.  It  is  therefore  usual  for  Russians  to  go 
to  church  on  Saturday  evenings  as  well  as  Sunday 
mornings,  but  there  are  no  Sunday  evening  services. 
The  most  important  feast  in  the  Russian  Church  is 
not  Christmas,  as  with  us,  but  Easter,  the  feast  of 
promise,  of  hope  and  of  glory.  On  Easter  Sunday 
people  salute  each  other  with  the  words,  "  Christ 
has  risen,"  to  which  the  reply  is,  "  He  has  risen  in 
very  truth,"  whereupon  the  two  embrace,  kissing 
each  other  three  times.  The  Easter  egg  is,  of  course, 
the  symbol  at  once  of  eternity  and  the  immortality 
of  the  soul. 

It  is  on  Easter  Saturday  that  the  all-night 
vesper  becomes  an  all-night  service  in  fact  as 
well  as  in  name.  The  devout  Russian  fasts 
from  Good  Friday  until  Easter  Sunday  by  abstaining 
from  all  food,  and  in  the  small  hours  of  Easter  Sunday 
there  is  a  joyous  supper  to  which  all  are  bidden, 
and  at  which  roast  sucking-pig,  ham,  hard-boiled  eggs 
and  a  special  kind  of  cake  made  of  cream  or  curds 
and  plums  play  an  important  role.    The  joyousness 


22 


23 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

of  Easter  morning  in  Russia  is  something  that 
must  be  experienced  to  be  understood.  Generally 
the  snow  is  still  on  the  ground,  but  the  weather  is 
comparatively  mild,  there  is  a  vague  sense  of  spring 
in  the  crisp  night  air,  the  church  bells  pour  forth 
their  jubilant  peals,  and  crowds  of  happy  people 
shouting,  "  Christ  has  risen !  "  joyfully  flock  from 
house  to  house  embracing  each  other  as  they  meet. 
The  happiness  is  not  assumed,  it  is  real,  for  it  has 
a  physical,  a  gross,  as  well  as  a  spiritual  side.  During 
the  six  weeks  of  Lent,  and  more  especially  during 
Passion  week,  the  pious  Russian  has  kept  stringent 
fast,  he  has  abstained  from  meat  of  any  kind,  from 
butter,  eggs,  and  on  certain  days  even  from  fish  ; 
his  food  has  consisted  principally  of  a  kind  of  porridge, 
called  kasha,  mushrooms,  pickled  cucumbers,  pre- 
served apples  and  black  bread.  In  place  of  butter 
linseed  oil  is  used.  ReHef  from  so  austere  a  diet  is, 
it  is  needless  to  say,  subject  for  congratulation,  and 
inspires  cheerfulness. 

The  Russian  confessional  is  a  very  different  sort 
of  thing  from  the  Roman  Cathohc.  Le  Roy 
Beauheu,  in  his  very  interesting  book  on  Russia, 
devotes  an  entire  volume  to  the  religion  of  the 
people,  and  describes  how  a  regiment  of  soldiers  are 
confessed  and  receive  absolution  before  being 
admitted  to  communion  at  Easter.  The  priest 
stands  in  front  of  the  ranks,  and  shouts  at  the  men, 
asking  them  whether  they  have  committed  the 
cardinal  sins  for  which  absolution  must  be  obtained, 

24 


RELIGION 

mentioning  each  by  name.  The  regulation  reply  by 
each  soldier  is  the  simple  but  profoundly  philo- 
sophical answer,  "  I  am  a  sinner,"  whereupon 
without  further  ado  absolution  is  granted.  Members 
of  the  Orthodox  Church  must  confess  at  least  once 
a  year,  preparatory  to  taking  communion  at  Easter. 
Of  course,  anybody  who  has  a  sin  on  his  conscience 
can  go  to  a  priest  at  any  time,  confess  and  obtain 
rehef .  But  the  ordinary  confession  is  annual.  From 
this  it  will  be  seen  that  in  Russia  the  confessional 
does  not  play  so  great  a  part  in  the  life  of  the  people 
as  it  does  in  Roman  Catholic  countries.  Nor  is  the 
status  of  the  priest  the  same. 

In  Russia  the  priest  is  but  the  Clerk  in  Holy 
Orders,  the  minister  of  rehgion.  He  is  the  ofiicial 
who  performs  the  necessary  religious  duties,  beyond 
that  he  has  but  httle  influence,  moreover  he  is 
largely  dependent  on  his  parishioners  for  his  living. 
For  the  numerous  rites  which  he  has  to  perform, 
such  as  blessing  the  house  at  stated  intervals, 
christening,  marrying  and  burying,  to  say  nothing 
of  various  incidental  ceremonies,  he  receives  fees  in 
proportion  to  the  wealth  of  the  persons  concerned. 
His  parishioners  pay  him  tithe,  and  consequently, 
generally  speaking,  the  priest  is  in  the  unfortunate 
position  of  being  dependent  more  or  less  on  the 
bounty  of  his  congregation.  He  formerly  consti- 
tuted a  class  by  himself.  The  priesthood  was 
transmitted  from  father  to  son.  Priests  only  married 
the  daughters  of  priests,  and  all  the  sons  of  priests 

25 


^ 


f  1 
5 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


RELIGION 


ii  • 


were  compelled  to  embrace  the  ecclesiastical  pro- 
fession. This  state  of  things,  with  its  many 
disadvantages,  has  been  abolished  for  over  fifty 
years,  and  the  clergy  are  no  longer  a  close  fraternity. 
To-day  the  sons  of  priests  enter  the  liberal 
professions,  and  help  to  swell  the  ever-increasing 
numbers  of  the  once  non-existent  middle  classes. 

As  the  Russian  priest  must  marry  before  he  can 
get  a  parish,  he  generally  marries  the  vicar's  daughter, 
and  thus  through  the  influence  of  his  father-in-law 
obtains  preferment.  He  must  not  marry  again,  and 
when  he  loses  his  wife  it  is  not  unusual  for  him  to  take 
vows  and  enter  a  monastery,  for  the  clergy  of  Russia 
are  divided  into  two  categories,  the  white  and  the 
black.  The  parochial  or  white  clergy  must  marry, 
but  while  married  can  hope  for  no  promotion  in  the 
ecclesiastical  hierarchy  ;  it  is  only  to  the  monks,  the 
black  clergy,  that  the  higher  walks  are  open.  Of 
course,  this  is  a  rule  to  which  many  eminent  excep- 
tions may  be  quoted. 

On  feast  days  and  holidays  the  priest,  attended  by 
his  deacons  and  other  satellites,  calls  on  his 
parishioners,  chants  a  prayer,  and  is  invited  to  the 
hospitable  board,  and  receives  a  handsome  present 
as  well.  Unfortunately  the  temptations  are  great, 
and  before  Russia  was  compulsorily  converted  to 
temperance,  as  she  had  previously  been  converted 
to  Christianity  when  the  Grand-Duke  Vladimir  had 
his  soldiers  baptised  on  parade,  the  visitant  priest 
often  imbibed  more  than  was  good  for  him,  and  by 

26 


the  time  his  round  was  drawing  to  an  end  his  gait  had 
become  strangely  unsteady,  and  his  ministrations 
were  sadly  lacking  in  coherence. 

Pictures  of  staggering,  jovial,  drunken  priests 
visiting  equally  jovial  peasants  and  merchants 
abound  in  Russian  galleries,  and  the  Russian  pope 
may  safely  be  described  as  anything  but  an  object 
of  reverence.  The  strange  thing  about  this  is  that 
the  unworthiness  of  the  minister  never  had  the  effect 
of  bringing  his  religion  into  contempt  with  the 
simple-minded  peasant,  who  was  able  to  differentiate 
between  the  minister  and  his  religion,  just  as  he 
differentiated  between  the  corrupt  official  and  the 
just  and  benevolent  Emperor. 

Under  Alexander  III.  and  his  minister,  the  Procu- 
reur  of  the  Holy  Synod,  the  late  M.  Pobedonostzev, 
the  status  of  the  clergy  was  much  improved,  and 
their  tone  greatly  raised.  Coincidently  there  has 
on  the  one  side  been  an  increase  of  fanaticism  and 
religious  intolerance,  and  on  the  other  a  tendency 
towards  indifference  to  all  rehgious  matters,  and 
a  drifting  towards  irreligion,  not  to  say  atheism. 
The  Russian  peasant,  who  has  been  unspoilt  by 
contact  with  big  cities  and  the  demoralising  influences 
of  factory  fife,  is  still  fundamentally  a  man  of  pro- 
found religious  feehng  and  sentiment,  though 
perhaps  his  doctrinal  tenets  are  of  the  vaguest. 
It  may  be  argued  that  his  religion  is  not  untinctured 
with  superstition,  but  on  the  other  hand  it  must  be 
admitted  that  just  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful 

27 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


RELIGION 


features  of  the  Russian  Church  is  its  charity,  its 
hostihty  to  all  spiritual  pride  and  arrogance  of  faith, 
and  its  injunction  and  practice  of  Christian  humihty 
in  the  fullest  sense,  so  is  the  open-hearted  and 
simple  charity  of  the  Russian  peasant  one  of  his 
most  lovable  characteristics.  Nobody  who  asks 
a  Russian  peasant  to  do  anything  Chrisia  radyi— 
for  Christ's  sake — will  meet  with  a  refusal.  I  have 
myself  heard  peasants  debating  with  themselves, 
and  arguing  that  they  had  been  appealed  to  for 
Christ's  sake,  and  that  therefore  they  could  not 
refuse.  To  ask  alms  in  Russia  is  not  described  as 
begging,  but  as  asking  for  Christ's  sake. . 

The  relation  of  the  Church  to  the  autocracy  is  a 
very  interesting  problem.  As  is  usually  the  case  in 
all  countries,  the  Church  has  in  Russia  endeavoured 
to  secure  temporal  power  for  itself,  and  to  make  itself 
independent  of  the  temporal  government,  but  in 
these  attempts  it  has  consistently  and  handsomely 
failed.  The  Church  in  Russia  owes  its  position 
entirely  to  the  rulers  of  the  country,  and  it  would  be 
a  bad  day  for  Russia  and  her  Church  should  these 
conditions  ever  be  changed.  Russia  was  converted 
to  Christianity  by  that  picturesque  Grand  Duke  who 
caused  his  soldiers  to  be  baptised  on  parade.  Ever 
since  the  Church  has  been  made  to  feel  that  she  owed 
her  existence  in  Russia  to  the  ruler  of  the  State. 

When  Peter  the  Great  constituted  the  Holy 
Synod  he  made  the  Church  a  department  of  the  State, 
and  as  he  was  the  autocrat  of  the  State  it  followed 

28 


that  he  was  head  of  the  Church.  Under  the  Empress 
EHzabeth  the  Church  began  to  rear  its  head  and 
become  powerful,  but  Peter  III.  on  his  accession 
immediately  set  to  work  to  make  it  feel  the  weight 
of  his  autocratic  heel  by  proposing  to  deprive  the 
monasteries  of  their  lands,  and  by  ordaining  that 
parish  priests  should  in  future  shave  their  beards, 
cut  short  their  hair,  and  wear  the  unostentatious 
dress  of  the  Lutheran  pastors.  This  edict  nearly 
caused  a  revolution,  for  the  costume  of  the  Russian 
priest  is  one  of  those  institutions  hallowed  by  custom 
which  the  people  would  not  consent  to  see  altered. 
It  may  here  be  stated  that  the  dress  and  appearance 
of  the  Russian  priest  is  a  direct  imitation  of  the 
pictures  of  our  Saviour — the  long  flowing  robe,  the 
full  untrimmed  beard,  the  hair  hanging  down  to 
the  shoulders,  these  are  the  outward  and  visible 
signs  of  the  priestly  official,  and  though  they  have 
failed  to  command  respect  for  the  person,  they  always 
awaken  a  reverence  for  the  office. 

Catherine  II.  when  she  ascended  the  throne  was 
wise  enough  to  conciliate  the  clergy,  and  to  repeal  the 
edicts  of  her  half-witted  spouse,  but  as  soon  as  she 
felt  herself  sufficiently  securely  seated  on  the  throne 
she  did  not  hesitate  to  make  the  bishops  and  higher 
church  dignitaries  fully  understand  that  they  owed 
unhesitating  obedience  to  her. 

The  Church  did  not  again  make  any  serious  attempt 
to  assert  itself  until  the  Panslavist  movement  in  the 
reign  of  Alexander  II.     His  son,   who  advanced 

29 


I 


"If^ 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

Pobedonostzev,  and  was  to  a  large  extent  in 
sympathy  with  the  practical  side  of  Panslavism,  did 
not,  however,  show  any  disposition  to  encourage 
sacerdotalism,  or  to  allow  the  Church  to  usurp 
political  power. 

A  great  deal  of  exaggerated  importance  has  been 
attached  by  non-Russian  writers  to  the  dissenters  in 
that  Empire,  but  these  are  far  less  important  than 
the  general  public  have  been  led  to  believe.  The 
principal  dissenters  are  the  Staro-Vyeri,  or  Old 
Behevers,  who  still  resist  the  reforms  introduced 
into  the  Hturgy  by  the  Patriarch  Nikae.  The 
modem  Old  Behevers  use  the  forefmger  and  the 
middle  finger  in  making  the  sign  of  the  cross,  instead 
of  using  the  thumb  as  well. 

When  the  State  adopted  the  hturgy  introduced  by 
Nikae,  in  order  to  do  away  with  what  were  regarded 
as  popular  errors  which  custom  had  permitted  to 
creep  in,  the  conservative  elected  to  reject  the  inno- 
vations, and  were  subsequently  subjected  to  persecu- 
tion. To  avoid  this,  as  is  recorded  by  Sir  Donald 
Mackenzie  Wallace,  in  his  unrivalled  book  on  Russia, 
they  used  to  shut  themselves  up  in  their  houses  and 
bum  themselves  to  death.  In  spite  of  such  heroic 
procedure  their  descendants  have  survived.  The  Old 
Believers  are  no  longer  persecuted  to-day,  although 
they  are  not  recognised  either.  They  are  nevertheless 
greatly  respected  for  their  extreme  uprightness  of 
conduct  and  purity  of  Hfe.  They  have  one  remarkable 
custom,  which  is  probably  traceable  to  sanitary  rather 

30 


RELIGION 

than  theological  precepts.  Each  Old  Behever  eats 
out  of  his  own  individual  separate  plate,  and  drinks 
out  of  a  glass  or  a  cup  that  belongs  solely  to  him. 
Anybody  else  eating  out  of  a  plate  or  drinking  out 
of  a  cup  or  glass  belonging  to  another  defiles  it,  and 
renders  it  filthy  or  *'  pagan,''  whereupon  it  must  be 
destroyed.  No  amount  of  washing  can  wipe  away 
the  pollution. 

Another  very  inoffensive  sect  are  the  Molokane,  or 
milk  drinkers.  These  harmless  people  will  not  kill 
animals  for  food,  and  are  vegetarians  and  teetotallers, 
subsisting  principally  on  milk.  Some  of  them  have 
strange  delusions,  and  even  hold  that  as  Adam  and 
Eve  when  they  lived  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  were 
innocent  as  long  as  they  remained  nude,  clothing 
must  be  the  root  of  all  sinfulness,  and  so  go  about 
in  a  state  of  nature.  Some  of  these  when  they 
emigrated  to  Canada  got  into  serious  trouble  with 
the  local  authorities  and  police  for  obstinately 
refusing  to  put  on  any  garments  whatsoever.  They 
also  object  to  serve  in  the  army  and  to  pay  tribute  to 
Caesar.  They  have,  in  consequence,  suffered  much 
hardship  from  unsympathetic  officials.  There  are 
several  colonies  of  Molokanes  in  Transcaucasia, 
where  I  have  seen  them  in  their  exceptionally  neat 
and  clean  villages  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  of 
prosperity  and  purity  quite  touching  in  its  simpHcity  ; 
but  all  the  Molokane  I  have  seen  were  neatly  and 
even  picturesquely  clothed,  and  exhibited  no  signs 
of  eccentricity. 


31 


Mi 


rm  > 


i 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


H 


There  are  other  far  more  objectionable  sects,  such 
as  the  Skoptsi,  the  self-mutilators,  who  destroy  the 
fecundity  of  the  sexes,  and  consequently  can  only 
perpetuate  their  sect  by  proselytising.  This  sect  is, 
of  course,  under  the  ban  of  the  State,  but  its  secret 
votaries  are  very  influential,  they  belong  mainly  to 
the  commercial  classes,  and  exhibit  an  extraordinary 
gift  for  amassing  wealth. 

A  sect  which  is  if  possible  even  more  objectionable 
than  the  Skoptsi,  is  that  of  the  Khlistuni,  whose 
strange  nocturnal  rites  are  somewhat  akin  to  those 
of  the  Shakers,  but  are  supposed  to  be  obscene  as  well. 
This  sect  is  on  the  decline,  and  although  I  have  heard 
of  it,  I  have  never  in  the  course  of  my  long  sojourning 
and  numerous  travels  in  Russia  come  across  any  of 
its  votaries. 

The  attitude  of  the  Russian  State  towards  the 
religious  beliefs  of  its  subjects  has  been  described 
by  the  late  M.  Pobedonostzev,  whom  Mr.  Stead  called 
the  Torquemada  of  Russia,  as  tolerant,  and  in  a 
sense  that  is  true.  Foreign  races  may  profess  any 
faith  they  like — Mohammedans,  Roman  Catholics, 
Protestants,  and  indeed  all  conceivable  religions  are 
tolerated  in  Russia,  including  the  Jewish,  but  on 
certain  conditions.  No  proselytising  is  permitted, 
and  no  orthodox  Christian  is  allowed  to  change  his 
religion.  Once  a  Russian  always  a  Russian  is  the 
dictum  of  the  Russian  State  and  the  Russian  Church 
alike.  For  all  that,  the  Russian  people  are  quite  as 
prone  as  we  to  adopt  what  in  military  language  is 

32 


RELIGION 

called  "  fancy  religions,"  and  no  doubt  in  time,  as  the 
liberty  of  the  subject  grows  and  develops  there, 
there  will  be  as  absolute  a  freedom  of  religious  belief 
as  there  is  in  Great  Britain  or  even  in  the  United 
States.  After  all,  truth  has  a  tendency  to  manifest 
itself  in  a  variety  of  forms,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
human  fallibility  will  find  a  way  of  twisting  error  and 
falsity  round  every  such  manifestation,  however  pure 
and  unadulterated  it  may  have  originally  been. 

The  attitude  of  the  Russian  State  to  the  Jews  must 
at  once  be  admitted  to  have  been  illiberal  and  narrow- 
minded,  but  just  as  there  are  two  sides  to  every 
question,  so  there  is  also  something  to  be  said  for  the 
Russian  Government ;  on  the  other  hand,  nothing  can 
justify  the  pogroms  which  were  introduced  by  a 
reactionary  party  wdth  a  specific  object. 


^1 


8 


33 


CHAPTER   III 


ARISTOCRACY  AND  THE  TCHIN 


Many  writers  about  Russia,  especially  those  who 
know  nothing  concerning  their  subject,  are  fond  of 
talking  of  the  noble  class  and  the  heavy  hand  of  the 
aristocracy,  and  how  necessary  it  is  to  break  down 
their  power  before  there  can  be  any  hope  for  the  poor 
down-trodden  millions,  the  Russian  masses.  All  this 
is  the  most  utter  nonsense.  The  Russian  nobility 
have  done  more  for  the  freedom  of  Russia's  millions 
than  any  other  class,  and  they  can  be  truthfully 
described  as  being  absolutely  powerless  and  helpless 
in  the  Russian  State. 

Of  course,  the  Russian  nobility  can  in  a  large 
number  of  instances  claim  descent  from  the  old 
Boyars  of  Muscovy,  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  these  ever  had  any  corporate  power  or  feudal 
status.  Russia  during  the  Middle  Ages  was  un- 
touched by  the  chivalry  of  the  West.  Russian  nobles 
owed  their  dignity,  their  wealth  and  their  power  to 
the  favour  of  their  Grand-Dukes  and  Tzars,  who  as 
incontinently  and  suddenly  denuded  them  of  all 
these  benefits  as  they  conferred  them.  Ivan  the 
Terrible  would  not  tolerate  any  nobleman  by  his 

34 


ARISTOCRACY   AND   THE   TCHIN' 

side  who  was  not  his  abject  slave,  and  Peter  the 
Great  literally  made  his  nobles  tremble  in  his 
presence.  He  was  very  powerful  and  no  respecter  of 
persons,  and  would  soundly  belabour  with  his  stick 
before  the  whole  court  any  nobleman,  no  matter  how 
exalted,  who  incurred  his  displeasure.  Moreover,  he 
advanced  to  high  positions  people  of  obscure  origin, 
like  Menshikoff,  who  is  said  to  have  sold  pies  in  the 
street  as  a  boy,  and  people  of  foreign  birth  and 
nationality.  He  was  surrounded  by  Dutchmen, 
Germans,  Scotchmen,  Frenchmen,  and  adventurers 
from  every  clime,  including  a  negro,  the  ancestor  of  the 
famous  poet  Pushkin.  He  also  created  a  number  of 
foreign  titles  such  as  had  never  been  heard  of  in  Russia 
before,  counts  and  barons,  and  exotic  dignitaries  of 
that  kind.  But  Peter  the  Great's  main  object  was 
to  reform  his  country,  and  he  knew  that  he  could  not 
trust  his  conservative  and  reactionary  Boyars  to 
uphold  and  perpetuate  the  innovations  he  had  intro- 
duced. For  this  purpose  an  entirely  new  race  of 
beings  had  to  be  created,  who  would  owe  their  career 
to  this  new  order  of  things,  and  would  therefore  be 
interested  in  maintaining  it. 

In  direct  opposition  to  the  aristocracy,  Peter  the 
Great  created  a  bureaucracy,  which  he  called  the 
Tchin,  or  Rank,  which  he  recruited  from  all  sources 
and  which  he  organised  into  a  sort  of  administrative 
army.  To  give  the  Tchin  its  coherence  he  devised  a 
Table  of  Ranks,  in  which  he  co-ordinated  the  civilian 
titles,  he  proposed  to  confer  with  those  of  the  army. 

35 


>  ' 


•I 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

There  were  officials  whose  civilian  rank  was  equal  to 
that  of  a  general  in  the  army,  others  who  were  only 
the  equivalents  of  colonels,  majors,  captains,  and  so 
on  down  to  comets.  The  civilian  ranks  were 
borrowed  from  the  German ;  these  were  actual 
privy  councillors,  state  coimcillors,  assessors,  etc.,  etc. 
These  civilian  dignities,  however,  could  only  be  con- 
ferred on  persons  actually  in  the  service  of  the  State. 
Honorary  titles  did  not  exist,  empty  forms  were 
abhorrent  to  Peter.  He  wanted  his  nobles  to  work 
and  assist  him  in  his  self-appointed  task  of  re- 
organising the  Empire.  That  could  only  be  done  by 
luring  them,  by  offering  inducements.  These  took 
the  form  of  privileges,  one  of  the  most  important  of 
which  was  a  theoretical  exemption  from  corporal 
punishment.  In  practice  everybody,  no  matter  what 
his  rank  might  be,  sooner  or  later  felt  the  weight  of 
Peter's  cane,  but  at  least  he  was  exempt  from  being 
pubHcly  flogged,  a  very  painful  and  exhausting 
process  in  those  days,  which  people  occasionally  did 
not  survive.  No  member  of  the  Xchin  could  be  thus 
punished  without  being  first  deprived  by  sentence  of 
the  court  of  his  civil  rights.  But  the  members  of  the 
aristocracy,  no  matter  how  wealthy  or  how  influential, 
could  not  come  within  this  category  unless  they 
entered  the  government  service  in  some  capacity  or 
other,  and  thus  took  a  step  on  the  ladder  of  the  Table 
of  Ranks.  Such  entrance  was  by  examination  only, 
and  though^these  examinations  were  not  what  would 
have  been  called  stiff  by  contemporary  foreigners, 

36 


ARISTOCRACY  AND   THE   TCHIN 

they  nevertheless  caused  the  unfortunate  candidates 
many  a  headache. 

The  Tchin  did  not  only  confer  rank,  privileges,  and 
in  some  cases  even  the  title  of  Excellency,  it  also 
.   conferred  nobihty.     The  servant  of  the  State  who 
attained  the  rank  of  general  conferred  the  rank  of 
nobihty  on  his  children,  and  had  the  privilege  later 
of  having  them  educated  in  specially  aristocratic 
pubhc  schools,  like  the  Corps  des  Pages,  for  instance. 
The  old  nobility  who  stood  aloof  or  who  failed  to 
pass  the  necessary  examinations,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  not  only  debarred  these  privileges,  but  their 
children  lost  their  title  to  nobihty  ;  thus  the  Boyars 
died  out,  and  the  Emperor  was  the  sole  fountain  of 
honour.    The  idea  of  making  everybody  of  conse- 
quence serve  the  State  was,  of  course,  based  on  the  old 
feudal  conception  of  society,  according  to  which 
everybody  of  consequence  in  return  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  his  land  had  to  perform  certain  duties.     As 
the  feudal  institutions  fell  into  abeyance  in  France, 
and  the  nobles  became  so  powerful  that  they  refused 
to  do  homage  to  their  king  and  hege  lord,  and  in 
many  cases  even  defied  him,  hke  Charles  the  Bold, 
Cardinal  Richeheu,  in  order  to  weaken  them,  turned 
them  into  courtiers,  until  it  became  possible  in  the 
following  reign  for  Louis  XIV.  to  say,  "  L'itdt  c'est 
moi:*    Frederick    I.    of    Prussia    had    copied    the 
methods  of  his  great  exemplar  and  pattern,  and-when 
Peter  the  Great  visited  Western  Europe  he  found  in 
Germany  and  France  a  system  which  he  endeavoured 

37 


«w^ 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

to  copy,  improve  and  transplant  into  his  own  country. 
However,  in  those  simple  and  spacious  days  the 
government  of  the  country  was  beset  with  fewer 
difficulties  than  it  is  at  present. 

The  bulk  of  the  population  of  Russia  were  peasants, 
who  in  the  course  of  years  had  become  little  better 
than  slaves,  so  much  live-stock  owned  by  the  owner 
of  the  soil,  and  regarded  as  part  and  parcel  of  his 
estate  and  inseparable  from  the  land.     So  much  was 
this    the    case,  that    landowners    were    commonly 
described,  not  as  owning  such  and  such  an  area  of 
land,  as  they  are  with  us,  but  as  possessing  so  many 
souls.     The  possession  of  "  souls  '*  did  not  carry  a 
title  with  it,  and  hence  it  is  misleading  to  describe  the 
country  gentry  of  Russia  as  its  nobihty ;  but  in  course 
of  time  these  country  gentry  acquired  court  privileges, 
and  were  hence  called  dvoryani,  or  courtiers,  as  well 
as  pomeystchicki,  or  land-owners,  yet  the  dvoryanin 
was  not  necessarily  a  pomeystchick  nor  was  the 
pomeystchick  ipso  facto  a  dvoryanin.      But  the  fact 
that  the  country-side  belonged  t6  coimtry  gentlemen 
who  were  the  masters  of  the  peasants  tilling  the  soil 
greatly  simpHfied  the  problem  of  government,  and 
gave  an  extraordinary  elasticity  to  the  revenues  of 
the  coimtry.     The  army  of  officials  required  in  a 
modem  civihsed  state  was  not  needed  in  those  early 
days,  when  the  country  was  divided  into  provinces 
or  governments,  as  they  were  and  are  still  called,  each 
such  government  being  under  a  governor-general,  a 
sort  of  petty  viceroy,  whose  chancellory  reproduced 

38 


ARISTOCRACY   AND   THE   TCHIN 

in  miniature  the  departments  of  the  State.  The 
gentry  were  responsible  to  these  governors  for  the 
roads  and  bridges  and  for  the  conduct  of  their  serfs. 
As  the  complications  of  civilisation  increased,  the 
problem  of  government  grew  more  difficult,  and  the 
army  of  officials  kept  increasing.  In  the  old 
eighteenth-century  days  there  would  not  have  been  a 
sufficient  number  of  educated  Russians  to  fill  the 
numerous  posts  which  the  Russian  Civil  Service  now 
has  in  its  gift.  In  a  self-governing  country  like 
England  a  great  part  of  the  local  government  is 
performed  by  unpaid  persons,  but  even  in  England 
an  increase  in  the  number  of  salaried  officials  em- 
ployed by  the  State  has  of  late  years  been  noticeable. 

Catherine  II.,  the  Great,  endeavoured  to  give  the 
nobility  of  Russia  a  status  and  privileges.  She 
introduced  the  system  of  election  of  Marshals  of 
Nobility,  by  means  of  which  the  country  gentry  of  a 
district  elected  their  own  presidents  and  office- 
bearers from  their  midst,  who  became  their  official 
representatives  and  spokesmen,  and  thus  was  intro- 
duced the  thin  end  of  the  wedge  of  representative 
institutions  and  the  germ  of  self-government.  These 
assemblies  of  nobles  exercised  a  great  influence  over 
rural  life,  and  developed  into  the  cradle  of  Russian 
rural  local  government. 

By  giving  the  country  gentry  assemblies  and 
marshals  or  elected  presidents,  Catherine  the  Great 
put  a  sort  of  corporate  life  into  this  very  important 
section  of  the  community,  from  a  revenue  point  of 


39 


t 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

view  perhaps  the  only  class  who  really  mattered,  and 
made  them  conscious  not  only  of  their  importance, 
but  also,  and  more  especially,  of  their  duties  and 
responsibilities.  Catherine,  who  posed  as  a 
philosopher  and  a  humanitarian,  has  been  accused 
of  hypocrisy  and  insincerity,  because  her  critics  have 
charged  her  with  neglecting  the  welfare  of  the 
peasantry  and  fostering  and  encouraging  the  gentry. 
These  are,  after  all,  but  shallow  critics.  Catherine 
worked  very  hard  to  reform  the  State  over  which" 
accident  had  made  her  the  ruler,  but  she  clearly  saw 
that  it  was  hopeless  to  endeavour  to  enlighten  the 
peasantry  before  she  had  succeeded  in  awakening  a 
sense  of  responsibility  and  duty  in  the  breasts  of  the 
country  gentlemen.  Culture  filters  do^\^l,  more 
especially  in  autocratically-governed  countries,  and 
it  was  necessary  to  reclaim  and  regenerate,  or  perhaps 
even  to  create,  the  Russian  gentleman  before  the 
masses  could  be  reached.  These  were  at  least  the 
lines  on  which  Catherine  worked,  and  her  method, 
judged  in  the  light  of  later  events,  cannot  with  justice 
be  pronounced  unprogressive  or  sweepingly  con- 
demned. 

There  is,  however,  another  side  of  the  picture  of 
Catherine's  administration  which  is  perhaps  less 
unobjectionable.  Catherine  was  a  woman,  and 
women  are  supposed  to  be  illogical.  Be  that  how  it 
may,  Catherine  combined  with  her  very  acute 
reasoning  powers  large  quantities  of  the  salt  of  humour 
and  mother  wit,  and  sometimes  her  sense  of  humour 


40 


ARISTOCRACY   AND   THE   TCHIN 

approached  perilously  near  the  precipice  of  cynicism. 
The  salaried  officials  of  the   State  must  be  paid 
salaries,  that  is  clearly  an  axiom,  and  these  salaries 
can  only  be  derived  from  the  revenues  of  the  country  ; 
in  other  words,  the  people  must  be  taxed  to  pay  the 
officials  who  govern  them.     To   Catherine's  mind 
there  was  presented  a  compromise.     It  was  true  that 
officials  must  be  paid  out  of  revenue,  but  why  incur 
the  odium  of  high  taxation  by  making  these  salaries 
adequate  ?     There  are  two  sources  of  revenue  in  a 
State,  one  is  derived  from  direct  taxes,  the  other  from 
what  is  called  indirect  taxation.     Catherine  at  first 
strove  to  put  down  bribery  and  corruption,  but  found 
these  vices  so  deeply  seated  in  the  government  that 
she  was  powerless  to  root  them  out.     She  therefore, 
whilst  continuing  to  protest,  tacitly  winked  at  them. 
Knowing  her  people  and  her  country,  she  recognised 
the  hopelessness  of  her  self-imposed  task,  but  she 
determined  to  turn  this  inherent  weakness  of  the 
government  to  the  benefit  of  the  nation.     If  officials 
accepted  bribes  and  gratuities  as  a  regular  thing,  and 
if  it  was  hopeless  to  put  a  stop  to  such  practices,  why 
not  take  this  circumstance  into  account  in  fixing 
their  salaries  ?     Why  not  let  the  officials  have  two 
salaries,  the  recognised  and  inadequate  salary  derived 
from  direct  taxation,  and  the  irregular,  unrecognised 
income  derived  from  the  indirect  taxation  of  the 
public  ? 

The  consequences  were  disastrous.    The  system 
took  hold  of  the  country  and  permeated  every  service. 


41 


i 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

Not  only  did  the  police  and  similar  licensed  social 
leeches  prey  on  the  body  politic,  but  the  army  and  the 
navy  followed  suit.  So  well  was  the  system  recog- 
nised that  nobody  was  shocked  or  scandaUsed. 
When  the  case  of  an  impoverished  nobleman  was 
represented  to  Catherine,  she  is  reported  to  have 
rephed,  "  How  stupid  !  Did  he  not  have  command 
of  a  regiment  for  years  ?  How  can  I  help  people  who 
will  not  help  themselves  ?  " 

Alexander    I.    when    he    ascended    the    throne 
endeavoured  to  stamp  out  this  crying  evil,  but  the 
weU-meant  efforts  of  this  ingenuous  monarch  were  not 
very  effective,  and  his  favourites,  such  as  the  infamous 
General  Arakcheyev,  were  successful  in  hoodwinking 
their  confiding  ruler.     Nicholas  I.  was  more  drastic 
in  his  methods,  but  had  fewer  illusions,  and  knew 
perfectly  well  that  his  intermittent  deus  ex  machina 
methods  were  as  Httle  efficacious  as  the  self-deceptions 
of  his  brother.    He  used  to  say  that  there  were  only 
three  honest  men  in  Russia  :   himself,  his  eldest  son 
and  heir,  and  General  Wilson,  the  Scottish  engineer 
whom  he  had  imported  to  found  ironworks  for  the 

State. 

In  more  recent  times,  although  it  would  be  an 
exaggeration  to  say  that  corruption  had  been  rooted 
out,  it  is  nevertheless  far  milder  in  its  forms  and  much 
less  dangerous  to  the  State. 

I  knew  an  Enghshman  in  Moscow  whose  father 
was  a  surgeon  in  Cronstadt  when  the  Crimean  War 
broke  out.     He  used  to  tell  me  that  when  Sir  Charles 

43 


ARISTOCRACY   AND   THE   TCHIN 


Napier  sailed  up  the  Baltic  with  a  British  fleet  the 
Russians  had  their  hearts  in  their  mouths.  They 
thought  that  St.  Petersburg  was  bound  to  fall,  for 
they  knew  that  the  imposing  guns  which  were 
mounted  on  the  "  impregnable "  Cronstadt  forts 
were  made  of  wood  and  painted  to  look  formidable, 
although  the  State  had  paid  for  the  genuine  article. 
But  then,  fortunately  for  the  responsible  parties.  Sir 
Charles  Napier  did  not  know  this. 

There  are  many  stories  about  the  army  and  the 
navy  of  those  days  which  are  hardly  credible.  But 
to-day  things  are  changed.  When  I  last  visited 
Russia,  a  few  months  before  the  war,  I  heard  from 
all  quarters  that  the  army,  for  instance,  had  been 
entirely  purified  by  the  energetic  uprightness  of  the 
Grand-Duke  Nicholas,  and  that  generally  speaking 
the  back-door  influences  which  had  previously  been 
brought  to  bear  had  been  swept  away. 

These  are,  of  course,  the  tragic  forms  of  corruption, 
the  grand  dramas  of  bribery.  In  the  humbler  walks, 
the  comedy  and  farce  of  official  Hfe,  there  is  also  far 
greater  purity.  After  all  it  is  largely  a  question  of 
custom  and  remuneration.  When  I  was  a  boy  in 
Moscow  there  lived  next  door  to  us  a  lieutenant  of 
police.  He  was  always  attired  in  the  newest  of 
uniforms.  His  children  were  elegantly  dressed,  they 
had  a  very  smart  French  governess,  and  generally 
Hved  in  a  comfortable  style.  Their  father  had  a 
really  splendid  turn-out,  and  when  he  drove  through 
the  streets  his  horses,  his  driver,  and  his  furs  and 


y 


43 


'Mi 


»i 


! 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

waxed  moustache  were  a  sight  to  see.  He  was  highly 
esteemed  and  regarded  generally  as  a  harmless  and 
amiable  man,  but  his  salary  was  barely  as  much  as  his 
rent,  and  to  suppose  that  he  could  live  on  it  never 
entered  anybody's  head.  He  had  no  private  means, 
but  thrived  and  lived  in  clover,  thanks  to  "  indirect 
taxation."  The  various  tradesmen  made  him  regular 
presents,  and  he  had  more  sources  of  revenue  than  the 
ordinary  imagination  could  conjure  up.  It  was  the 
custom  of  the  country,  and  the  easy-going  world  was 
not  censorious.  His  superiors  showed  him  the 
example.  They  were  all  corrupt,  but  genial  and 
good-natured  in  spite  or  perhaps  in  consequence  of 
the  system.  In  more  recent  years  I  have  found  the 
police  officials  to  be  far  less  prone  to  accept  presents, 
their  salaries  have  been  increased,  and  they  are  less 
exposed  to  temptation.  On  the  other  hand,  these 
presents  and  good-will  offerings  can  scarcely  be 
regarded  as  bribery,  they  are  part  of  an  elastic 
system.  I  am  credibly  informed  that  in  democratic 
New  York  the  state  of  things  is  much  worse  and  far 
less  bearable. 

In  the  bad  old  days,  however,  the  official  system 
had  many  unlovely  sides,  and  was  directly  re- 
sponsible for  keeping  back  the  development  of  the 
country.  A  friend  of  mine,  for  instance,  informed 
me  that  many  years  ago  an  application  was  made  in 
the  usual  manner  to  the  governor  of  one  of  the 
provinces  of  Siberia  for  permission  to  work  and 
exploit  the  petroleum  in  a  certain  district.     When  the 


44 


ARISTOCRACY   AND   THE   TCHIN 

governor's  secretary  brought  this  petition  to  the 
notice  of  his  chief  the  latter  flew  into  a  fury,  and 
replied  that  there  was  no  oil  in  that  region,  and  that 
the  petition  should  therefore  be  rejected.  The 
secretary  ventured  to  point  out  that  on  the  contrary 
the  region  abounded  in  oil.  At  this  the  fury  of  the 
governor  became  almost  ungovernable.  When  he 
had  recovered  some  Httle  self-possession,  he  found 
words  to  express  his  feelings  :  '*  Aren't  you  com- 
fortable here  ?  Aren't  we  all  working  together  very 
nicely  ?  Presently  we  shall  no  doubt  get  promoted, 
and  do  better  still.  Then  why  have  this  place  spoilt 
with  all  sorts  of  engineers,  and  people  coming  here 
and  making  a  fuss  and  reporting  against  us  and 
queering  our  pitch  ?  No,  my  friend,  there  is  no  oil 
in  this  region,  and  there  won't  be  as  long  as  I  am 
governor-general." 

A  great  deal  is  made  of  such  stories  as  these,  but 
after  all  they  do  nothing  more  than  reveal  the 
vis  inertia  of  the  Russian  official  mind.  Nor  is  the 
Russian  official  singular  in  this  respect.  Even  in 
impeccable  Germany  the  incorruptible  Prussian 
bureaucracy  has  betrayed  its  human  weakness: 
witness  the  Borkum  scandals  and  the  Krupp  revela- 
tions. Two  blacks  do  not  make  a  white,  but  it  is 
rather  unfair  to  assume  that  Russia  is  the  only 
country  in  which  officials  are  amenable  to  subtle 
arguments,  and  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the  peccadilloes 
of  the  rest  of  Europe.  It  is  not  so  long  ago  that  a 
Secret  Commissions  Act  was  passed  in  this  country, 

45 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

although   I   doubt   whether  people   can   be   made 
virtuous  by  Act  of  Parliament. 

To  turn  from  this  unsavoury  side  of  public  life,  it 
is  deserving  of  note  that  advancement  in  Russia  is  by 
merit  and  not  by  favour,  and  that  Russia  is  the  most 
democratic  of  countries,  where  every  career  is  open 
to  those  who  have  the  ability  to  pass  the  necessary 
examinations. 


1*;     j-^ 


■I 


46 


V 


CHAPTER     IV 


EDUCATION 


As  stated  in  the  previous  chapter,  Russia  is  a 
democratic  country  which  has  opened  the  career  of 
the  pubHc  service  to  the  talents.  Much  has  been 
done  in  Russia  to  stimulate  education,  for  the  rulers 
of  the  Empire  have  always  felt  the  want  of  educated 
men  to  help  them  to  govern  the  miUions  of  subjects 
confided  to  their  care.  It  was  the  unceasing  com- 
plaint of  Peter  the  Great,  Catherine  the  Great, 
Alexander  I.  and  Nicholas  I.  that  they  could  not 
find  administrators.  Catherine  used  to  train  her 
lovers  and  make  statesmen  of  them,  but  this  is  a 
method  on  which  it  is  difficult  to  found  a  system. 
With  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs,  and  the  break-up 
of  the  ecclesiastical  caste,  a  new  and  inexhaustible 
supply  of  brains  was  set  free.  Everything  was  done 
to  encourage  education.  Wealthy  people  foimded 
scholarships,  as  we  should  call  them,  in  Russia  they 
were  given  the  names  of  stipends,  and  the  Govern- 
ment arranged  a  system  of  exhibitions  by  means  of 
which  intelligent  youths  could  work  their  way  up 
and  conquer  free  education .  Money  was  not  plentiful, 
and  the  stipends  were  in  the  majority  of  cases  even 
less  adequate  than  the  paltry  salaries  of  the  officials. 

47 


t 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

It  was  obvious  that  only  men  of  grit,  young  fellows 
possessing  a  fanaticism  for  learning,  comparable 
only  to  the  devotion  of  the  early  Christian  martyrs, 
could  persevere  in  so  hard  a  school.  Some  of  the 
benevolent  founded  seminaries  for  stipendiary 
students,  where  they  were  lodged  and  fed  for  a  purely 
nominal  sum ;  but  these  were  not  sufficient  to  accom- 
modate all,  for  the  reforms  of  1861,  as  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  serfs  and  its  attendant  measures  were 
called,  had  awakened  a  yearning  for  education  and 
improvement,  and  given  rise  to  hopes  and  dreams 
which  were  quite  impracticable  and  entirely  visionary, 
and  while  creating  a  highly  -  intellectual  class  of 
young  men,  were  bound  to  lead  to  disappointment 
and  despondency.  The  hardships  which  these  young 
martyrs  of  education  voluntarily  underwent  are 
scarcely  conceivable  to  the  comfortably  housed  and 
clothed  and  well-fed  middle  classes  of  this  prosperous 
country.  As  many  as  fifteen  students  have  been 
known  to  inhabit  one  room.  In  this  they  clubbed 
together,  often  possessing  but  one  complete  outfit 
amongst  them,  so  that  while  one  of  their  number 
was  deputed  to  attend  the  lectures  at  the  University 
and  take  verbatim  short-hand  notes  for  the  benefit 
of  the  others,  the  remaining  fourteen  stayed  at  home 
in  bed  copying  and  studying  the  notes  of  the  lectures 
of  the  previous  day.  Young  men  capable  of  such 
heroism  possessed  force  of  character  and  will-power 
of  no  ordinary  kind.  It  is  the  fashion  to  describe 
the  Russian  as  naturally  indolent  and  slothful,  but 

48 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

the  pursuit  of  learning  under  such  conditions  is  not 
compatible  with  laziness.  Of  course,  all  the  students 
were  not  equally  penurious.  Some  were  able  to  add 
to  their  incomes  by  giving  lessons,  others  followed 
kindred  occupations,  such  as  copying,  short-hand 
writing,  journalism,  and  a  variety  of  similar  kinds  of 
work,  all  poorly  paid  and  laborious. 

The  educational  system  of  Russia  was  copied  from 
the  German,  and  here  it  may  be  as  well  to  say  at  once 
that  Russia's  greatest  misfortune,  her  principal 
disability,  has  been  that  she  has  had  Germany  for 
her  immediate  neighbour,  and  that  so  much  of 
Western  life,  manners,  customs  and  culture  had  to 
filter  through  Germany  before  it  reached  her. 

At  the  time  of  the  re-awakening  of  Russia,  just  after 
the  Crimean  War,  Germany  was  practically  on  the 
verge  of  revolution.  The  centrifugal  force  of  Prussia 
had  scarcely  begun  to  assert  itself,  and  the  republican 
tendencies  of  the  atheistic  seminaries  of  German 
learning  were  having  a  distinctly  disintegrating  and 
unsettling  effect  on  the  youth  of  the  country.  Three 
remarkable  men— William  I.,  Bismarck  and  Moltke 
—knit  Germany  together,  but  after  all,  with  the 
sentimental  beer  -  drinking  and  argumentative 
German  the  radical  views  of  that  period  did  not 
penetrate  very  far  beneath  the  frothy  surface.  It  was 
very  different  with  the  ardent,  ingenuous  young 
Russian  who  had  just  obtained  a  scholarship  to 
enable  him  to  study  at  some  foreign  University. 
In  the  majority  of  cases  Germany,  being  the  nearest. 


49 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

was  the  country  selected,  and  here  the  young  and 
susceptible  student,  full  of  patriotic  aspirations  and 
the  noblest  ideals  sipped  the  poison  of  Nihilism.  Re- 
turning to  his  country  with  his  mind  perverted  instead 
of  formed,  and  bursting  to  set  right  the  abuses  and  the 
injustice  still  prevailing  in  the  land  of  his  birth,  he 
developed  characteristics  which  made  him  quixotic 
and  impractical.  He  had  imbibed  great  generalisa- 
tions, glorious  subversive  views,  but  he  had  acquired 
no  common  sense,  had  been  taught  no  work-a-day 
methods  of  mundane  life.  Compromise  was  a  word 
which  did  not  exist  in  his  dictionary.  The  result 
was  disastrous.  He  kept  tilting  at  windmills,  and 
running  his  head  against  brick  walls.  No  wonder 
that  he  could  find  no  sphere  for  his  activities  in  the 
rotten  and  corrupt  society  to  which  he  returned. 
For  to  the  young  enthusiast  and  ideahst  every 
state  of  society  is  rotten,  every  body  of  people  is 
corrupt  as  soon  as  they  betray  the  weaknesses  and 
fallibility  inherent  in  human  nature,  and  do  not  come 
up  to  his  unattainable  standard  of  absolute  perfection. 
The  dissatisfied  young  intellectuals  got  together, 
brooded  over  their  wrongs,  and  became  malcontents 
and  revolutionaries.  Their  effervescent  Nihilism 
was  unfortimately  taken  seriously  by  the  unimagina- 
tive reactionary  German  court  clique  who  surrounded 
the  Emperor  Alexander  II.,  and  the  consequences 
were  what  we  know. 

It    was    all    very    sad    and    very    pitiable,    but 
there  was  a  great   deal  of  nobility  and  idealism 


50 


1 


\ 


EDUCATION 

about  these  young  malcontents:  they  formed  a 
school,  they  created  a  class— the  intellectuals— from 
which  the  professors  of  the  universities,  the  writers 
in  the  newspapers,  and  the  men  of  culture  generally 
were  recruited.  Under  Alexander  III.,  who  had 
but  little  sympathy  with  visionaries,  these 
intellectuals  had  what  our  Transatlantic  cousins 
would  call  "  a  bad  time,"  and  gradually  this  cast  of 
mind  has  been  crushed  out  of  Russian  life.  To-day 
the  educated  classes  of  Russia  are  more  numerous 
than  before,  they  are  also  more  normal,  and  do  not 
represent  a  section  apart,  a  self-elected  salt  of  the 
earth,  bubbling  over  with  pride  and  antagonism,  as 
they  did  in  the  old  days  of  the  mid-seventies. 

The  opportunities  for  well-educated  young  men 
have  increased  enormously  with  the  development 
of  the  material  resources  of  the  country,  and  the 
increase  in  the  prosperity  of  the  people  and  the 
influence  and  numbers  of  the  middle  classes.  Yet 
the  government  services  still  absorb  a  very  large 
majority  of  these  young  men,  who  are  trained  very 
much  on  the  German  system,  and  prepared  for  the 
career  they  are  to  embrace  in  the  schools,  high 
schools  and  imiversities  which  they  attend.  In 
Russia,  as  in  France  and  Germany,  education  is 
highly  specialised.  Besides  the  purely  religious 
schools  and  colleges,  called  seminaries,  where  the 
clergy  are  trained,  there  are  classical  schools,  or 
gymnasia,  modem  schools,  or  real  schools  as  they 
are  called,  technical  schools,  law  schools,  law  colleges, 

51 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


j'' 


ii 

ii 


mining,  engineering  and  polytechnic  high  schools, 
and  so  on. 

The  average  cultured  Russian  is  a  highly-educated 
man,  who  knows  much  about  every  country  in  the 
world,  who  has  the  literatures  of  England,  France 
and  Germany  at  his  finger-ends,  who  has  a  warm 
sympathy  for  Italy  and  her  national  aspirations, 
a  sneaking  regard  for  procrastinating  Spain,  and 
an  admiration  of  America  not  entirely  untempered  by 
a  certain  distrust  of  her  get-rich-quick  methods, 
but  regards  the  growth  and  development  of  Great 
Britain  as  an  object  lesson  to  study  and  imitate. 
Yet  it  is  to  be  feared  that  he  knows  very  Httle  about 
Russia. 

But  while  the  average  Russian  young  man  is 
cultured  and  well  informed,  and  cosmopohtan  in  his 
education  to  a  degree  that  can  scarcely  be  credited 
in  Western  Europe,  his  schooling  is  not  of  the  kind 
best  calculated  to  fit  him  for  the  struggle  of  Hfe. 
In  this  respect  it  rather  resembles  the  training  of  the 
French  Lycee.  The  boys  are  under  constant  super- 
vision, and  are  not  self  reUant  and  miniature  men  of 
the  world  as  they  are  in  England.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  introduce  the  Enghsh  PubHc  School  system 
some  years  ago,  but  the  attempt,  although  praise- 
worthy, was  not  sufficiently  thorough-going  to  have 
any  marked  effect.  It  was  made  by  a  M.  Leontiev, 
the  right-hand  man  of  the  famous  Panslavist  and 
publicist  Katkoff,  but  it  did  not  go  much  farther 
than  the  promotion  of  Enghsh  games  amongst  the 


1 


r 


EDUCATION 

boys  and  the  giving  of  decided  preference  to  classical 
studies.  The  strict  supervision  of  the  boys  at  all 
times  and  hours  was  not  abolished,  and  it  is  to  the 
virtual  autonomy  of  the  Enghsh  Public  School  that 
the  self-reliant  character  of  the  educated  Englishman 
is  so  largely  due. 

When  we  turn  to  the  technical  schools  we  find 
at  once  an  illustration  of  the  difficulty  of  training 
youths  academically  in  a  manner  to  suit  them  to  face 
the  conditions  of  practical  life. 

Enlightened  Russians  who  wish  their  sons  to 
embrace  an  engineering  career  have  told  me  that  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  passing  of  certain  qualifying 
examinations  places  the  candidate  in  the  position  of 
entering  the  technical  professions  and  branches  of 
the  Civil  Service,  they  prefer  to  have  their  sons 
trained  practically  in  England,  and  that  in  Russia 
such  practical  training  is  more  helpful  than  the  hall- 
mark of  a  Russian  technical  examination.  Enghsh 
engineers  will  say  the  same  thing,  and  will  tell  you 
that  they  attach  more  importance  to  practical 
training  than  to,  say,  a  university  degree.  After 
all,  the  best  school  of  life  is  hfe  itself.  In  Germany, 
on  the  other  hand,  we  know  that  young  men  are  all 
turned  out  by  the  thousand,  and  manufactured 
wholesale  into  chemists,  engineers,  architects,  etc. 

What  the  Russian  schools  lack  in  freedom  and 
opportunities  of  initiative  is,  however,  compensated 
for  by  the  imiversities,  which  are  on  the  German 
model.    Here  the  young  man  enjoys  an  amount  of 

53 


I 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

freedom  and  independence  which  is  in  strong  contrast 
with  the  strict  discipline  of  the  schools.    This  sudden 
relaxation  of  discipHne  has,  in  the  opinion  of  many, 
had  a  baneful  effect  on  the  youth  of  Russia,  and  led 
to  much  of  the  insubordination  of  which  we  used  to 
hear.     Of  recent  years  greater  severity  has  been 
introduced.    Students  have  again  to  wear  a  imiform, 
as  in  the  mihtary  days  of  Nicholas  I.,  and  are  imder 
the  supervision  of  inspectors,  who  watch  over  their 
political  morahty.    While  certain  reactionary  states- 
men regard  these  measures  as  politically  necessary, 
it    is    nevertheless    doubtful    whether    they    have 
exercised  that  beneficial  influence  on  the  characters 
of  the  young  men  which  was  expected,  and  it  may 
be  that  we  shall  presently  see  a  tendency  to  copy 
British  methods  in  the  schools  and  universities  of 
Russia. 

One  result  of  the  present  system  is  not  altogether 
to  be  deprecated,  and  that  is  the  fact  that  it  makes 
charlatanism  practically  impossible.  Nobody  in 
Russian  can  follow  any  profession  whatsoever 
without  the  possession  of  a  diploma  to  show  that  he 
has  passed  a  qualifying  examination.  This  rule 
applies  even  to  the  profession  of  teaching.  Of  course, 
this  is  a  great  protection  to  the  pubhc,  but  in  these 
highly-specialised  times  it  impHes  that  an  individual 
must  make  up  his  mind  very  early  in  hfe  as  to  the 
calling  he  intends  to  follow.  When  a  man  later 
discovers  that  he  has  little  natural  aptitude  for  the 
walk  of  hfe  which  he  has  chosen,  it  is  very  difficult 


54 


EDUCATION 

for  him  to  adopt  a  new  profession,  and  hence  Russia 
abounds  in  what  we  must  call,  for  want  of  a  better 
word,  mistakes.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Civil  Service 
absorbs  the  bulk  of  the  educated  classes,  and  provides 
them  with  careers.  The  country  is  huge,  but  the 
educated  middle  classes  are  comparatively  few  in 
numbers,  consequently  we  shall  find  that  the  com- 
mercial life  of  the  country  is  largely  in  ahen  hands, 
for  the  Russians  cannot  be  spared  from  the 
services. 

From  what  classes  are  the  intellectuals  recruited  ? 
As  we  have  seen,  Peter  the  Great  made  it  incumbent 
on  every  gentleman  who  desired  to  retain  his  gentihty 
to  serve  the  State.  And  this  idea,  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  Russian  gentleman  to  serve  in  some  capacity 
or  other,  still  prevails.  The  bulk  of  the  civil  servants 
of  Russia  used,  therefore,  to  be  recruited  from  the 
landed  gentry.  Since  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs 
the  net  has  been  spread  wider,  and  the  career  of 
State  service  or  any  of  the  professions  has  been 
thrown  open  to  all  who  could  pass  the  necessary 
examinations. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  priesthood  have  supplied 
a  large  percentage  of  the  new  blood,  but  humble 
persons,  such  as  the  children  of  artisans  and  of  small 
tradesmen  and  even  peasants,  have  been  absorbed 
Russia  has  indeed  always  been  democratic  in  theory 
and  in  throwing  open  its  prizes  to  all,  but  in  the  old 
days,  when  the  peasants  were  serfs  and  kept  to  the 
land,  and  the  priesthood  formed  a  class,  the  sources 

55 


•J 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

from  which  candidates  could  be  drawn  were  naturally 
restricted.  Even  to-day  there  is  no  exaggeration  in 
saying  that  the  majority  of  the  officials  are  recruited 
from  the  class  of  coimtry  gentry.  In  the  case  of  very 
large  estates  it  is  common  to  place  the  administration 
in  the  hands  of  an  estate  agent  or  manager,  preferably 
a  German,  and  for  the  owner  to  take  service  in  the 
State.  In  other  cases  the  land  is  farmed  to  the 
peasants,  and  frequently  it  is  managed  by  one 
member  of  the  family,  while  the  others  are  in  the 
towns  and  in  official  employment. 

When  I  was  a  young  man  in  Moscow  all  the 
professors  at  the  University  were  what  we  should  call 
country  gentlemen,  that  is  to  say,  that  in  addition  to 
their  professorial  emoluments  of  about  four  hundred 
a  year  they  derived  a  private  income  from  their 
estates.  This  is  a  feature  of  Russian  middle-class 
Me  that  must  not  be  lost  sight  of. 

While  on  this  subject  of  education  it  may  be 
interesting  to  devote  some  space  to  female  education 
in  Russia. 

Russia,  which  has  had  so  many  empresses,  has  been 
greatly  influenced  by  women.  Catherine  the  Great, 
who  attached  much  importcince  to  the  refinement  of 
the  manners  of  her  subjects,  felt  how  necessary  it  was 
to  begin  with  the  women.  Imitating  the  example  of 
the  great  French  women  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  and  notably  Mme.  de  Maintenon, 
she  formed  educational  institutes  for  the  training 
of  the  daughters  of  the  aristocracy,  in  order  to  bring 

56 


EDUCATION 

them  up  as  ladies.  She  had  herself  studied  widely 
the  writings  of  the  leading  philosophers  of  her  time, 
and  she  encouraged  learning  and  letters  amongst  the 
ladies  of  her  court.  In  these  excellent  efforts  she 
was  later  greatly  aided  and  supported  by  her 
virtuous  daughter-in-law,  for  whom  she  conceived 
the  frankest  contempt,  but  who  nevertheless,  as  the 
wife  of  the  Emperor  Paul,  and  later  as  the  mother  of 
two  successive  Emperors,  Alexander  I.  and 
Nicholas  L,  did  much  to  perpetuate  the  traditions,  in 
so  far  as  female  education  was  concerned,  of  the  lax 
but  cultured  Catherine. 

Thus  when  the  great  reforms  of  1861,  from  which 
the  national  Hfe  of  the  country  really  dates,  were 
instituted,  the  ground  was  already  prepared  for  that 
tremendous  impetus  to  female  education  which  the 
reformers  of  that  time  gave  it.  From  the  first 
Russia  admitted  her  women  to  all  branches  of  higher 
education,  and  one  of  the  professions  which  was  more 
especially  thrown  open  to  them  was  that  of  medicine. 
Russian  girls  went  through  educational  processes 
similar  to  those  of  the  boys.  High  schools  for  girls 
were  instituted  which  differed  but  little  from  the 
gymnasia  of  the  boys,  and  later  women  were  admitted 
to  university  courses,  and  eagerly  absorbed  the  new 
ideas  that  were  then  in  vogue. 

The  Nihilist  movement  owed  much  to  women, 
and  in  every  manifestation  of  pubHc  opinion  in  Russia 
during  the  last  fifty  years  the  enthusiasm,  in- 
telligence and  self-sacrifice  of  women  have  played  a 

57 


ill 


>- 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

large  if  not  a  leading  part.  The  woman  influence 
gave  to  these  movements  much  of  their  heroic 
aspects,  and  imparted  a  lofty  and  pure  tone  to  them 
which  is  so  often  absent  from  politics.  Unfortunately 
too  many  of  these  movements  and  aspirations  were 
unpractical  and  visionary. 


.58 


CHAPTER   V 

THE  PEASANT  AND  VILLAGE  LIFE 

The  bulk  of  the  population  of  Russia  is  composed 
of  peasants.     It  is,  however,  a  mistake  to  assume  that 
over  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  Russia  there 
is  no  variation  of  type.    This  is  scarcely  correct. 
The  peasant  of  Podolia  and  Little  Russia  is  very 
different  from  the  peasant  of  the  Caucasus,  the  plains 
of  Siberia,  or  the  Baltic  Provinces.     Nevertheless, 
when  people  talk  of  the  Russian  peasant  they  mean  a 
native  of  Russia  who  inhabits  the  vast  central  plains, 
the  northern  and  eastern  regions,  and  who  speaks  the 
same  language  and  dresses  practically  in  the  same 
manner.     It  is  a  curious  thing  that  the  language  of 
the  Russian  people  varies  but  Httle  whether  we  go  to 
Archangel,  the  extreme  eastern  Hmits  of  Siberia,  the 
Volga,  the  Black  Sea,  or  the  interior.   To  all  practical 
intents   and  purposes   there   are  no   dialects  and, 
moreover,   no    vulgarities.     The    Russian   peasant 
speaks  a  Russian  which  is  virtually  as  grammatical 
as  the  language  spoken  in  a  Russian  drawing-room, 
and  has  an  accent  as  pure  as  that  of  the  most  cultured 
and  elegant  aristocrat.     In  this  respect  there  is  a 
very  wide  difference  between  Russia  and  Western 

59 


r^ 

h 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

Europe.  Germany,  Italy,  France  and  England  are 
full  of  dialects,  and  replete  with  class  distinctions. 
In  England  it  is  possible  to  say  to  what  layer  of 
society  an  Englishman  belongs  by  the  manner  in 
which  he  talks  ;  moreover,  it  is  easy  to  determine 
almost  as  soon  as  he  opens  his  mouth  from  what 
part  of  the  coimtry  he  comes.  In  France  and  Italy 
the  same  is  very  nearly  true ;  and  in  Germany  there 
are  the  Saxon,  the  Bavarian,  the  Rhenish,  the 
North  German,  the  Austrian,  and  a  variety  of  other 
accents.  But  the  vast  even  plains  of  Russian  present 
no  such  sharp  variations,  nor  are  there  clearly- 
defined  class  distinctions  in  pronunciation.  The 
reason  for  the  latter  fact  is  not  far  to  seek.  In  the 
days  when  gentility  was  developed  in  Russia  the 
gentry  spoke  French  at  court  and  amongst  them- 
selves, and  even  wrote  in  that  language,  very  much 
as  they  did  in  Germany,  and  as  they  do  now  in  the 
Netherlands.  The  vulgar  tongue,  the  language  of 
the  people,  therefore  remained  untainted  by  affecta- 
tion and  conversely  suffered  no  corruption.  To-day 
it  is  possible  to  judge  of  the  social  position  of  a 
Russian  by  the  manner  in  which  he  speaks  French, 
and  by  his  French  accent.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
commercial  classes  in  Russia  nearly  all  speak  German, 
the  gentry  all  speak  French  with  varying  degrees  of 
excellence,  and  the  smart  set,  the  court  chque,  have 
for  the  last  century  spoken  English. 

But  this  is  a  digression.     To  return  to  the  Russian 
peasant.    The  average  Russian  peasant,  with  the 

60 


THE    PEASANT   AND   VILLAGE   LIFE 

exception  of  only  a  few  regions,  such  as  e.g.  the 
Province  of  Orel,  is  fair,  blue-eyed,  large  boned,  tall, 
powerful  and  child-Hke  in  voice  and  expression  of 
countenance.  He  is,  speaking  generally,  a  gentle 
giant.  The  male  is  bearded  hke  the  pard ;  the  woman 
is  but  little  inferior  in  point  of  physique  to  the  male, 
and  quite  as  hardy  and  strong.  Where  the  race  has 
been  immixed  with  Tartar  and  Kalmuck  blood,  and 
the  pure  Slavonic  type  has  been  maintained,  the 
features,  if  coarse,  are  nevertheless  regular  and 
classical,  the  nose  straight  and  long,  the  hps  full  but 
well-shaped,  the  mouth  large,  the  cheeks  in  the  case 
of  the  woman  round,  Hke  the  chin,  the  shoulders 
broad,  and  the  chest  deep  and  full.  Among  the  men 
in  particular  florid  complexions  are  rare,  and  the 
women,  who  work  in  the  fields  quite  as  hard  as  the 
men,  soon  lose  the  softness  of  the  feminine  form,  the 
plumpness  of  the  feminine  face,  and  betray  the 
hardships  of  their  Hves  in  their  looks  and  figures. 

In  1861  every  Russain  peasant,  with  few  and  rare 
exceptions,  including  a  comparatively  small  number 
of  odnodvortsi,  or  single-courts,  the  equivalent  of  our 
yeomen,  were  serfs,  the  absolute  personal  property 
of  the  country  gentleman  who  owned  the  land  on 
which  they  hved,  and  regarded  very  much  like  the 
cattle  and  other  live  stock  of  the  estate,  subject  to 
the  arbitrary  ill-treatment  of  the  master,  to  being 
beaten  and  otherwise  bullied,  ignorant,  illiterate, 
superstitious,  servile,  and  of  course  totally  devoid  of 
self-reliance,  initiative,  or  independence  of  spirit.     It 

61 


/ 


51 


)i'i 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

was  an  oppressed,  long-suffering,  gentle  and  sub- 
missive race,  subject  occasionally,  of  course,  to 
inexplicable  attacks  of  revulsion  of  feeling,  of  in- 
subordination, rebellion  and  resentment,  but  on  the 
whole  docile,  hard-working  and  uncomplaining. 

The  Russian  country  gentleman  counted  his  serfs 
by  the  soul.  In  the  vernacular  the  peasant  was 
called  Kristianin,  and  all  these  Christians  called  each 
other  brothers.  They  were  a  simple,  God-fearing, 
penurious  people.  The  wants  of  the  peasant  were 
few,  his  tastes  could  scarcely  be  said  to  exist,  his 
horizon  was  small,  his  gamut  of  human  experience, 
of  happiness,  was  extraordinarily  limited. 

That  was  fifty-four  years  ago.  Since  then  the 
peasant  has  developed  with  extraordinary  rapidity. 
He  can  mostly  read  and  write,  he  is  shrewd  at  a 
bargain,  shows  a  distinct  tendency  towards  an 
independence  of  spirit,  an  awakening  of  consciousness, 
a  recognition  of  his  responsibilities  and  duties,  but 
also  of  his  rights.  Military  service  has  *  broadened 
his  outlook  on  life,  given  him  a  sort  of  university 
training  and  a  knowledge  of  the  world,  made  him 
smart  and  alert  and  tidy.  Gradually  he  is  amassing 
wealth,  or  shall  we  not  rather  say  growing  more 
comfortable  ?  And  with  this  increase  of  prosperity 
there  is  coming  an  increase  of  wants,  of  a  demand  for 
things  formerly  scarcely  thought  of,  but  now  rapidly 
becoming  necessaries  of  life.  In  other  words,  the 
Russian  peasant  is  emerging  from  a  condition  of 
benighted  ignorance  and  penurious  poverty  into  a 

63 


THE    PEASANT   AND   VILLAGE   LIFE 

flourishing  state  of  conscious  progress.    He  is  on  the 
up-grade. 

Let  us  visit  a  normal  Russian  village  in  central 
Russia  and  see  how  the  peasant  lives.  This  will  help 
us  to  understand  his  economic  position. 

We  must  begin  at  the  beginning.  We  cannot 
approach  the  Russian  village  except  by  road.  In  the 
summer  the  main  road  is  beautifully  macadamised. 
The  peasant  knows  that  he  pays  for  the  up-keep  of 
this  handsome  road,  and  therefore,  like  a  prudent  and 
thrifty  husbandman,  he  uses  it  as  little  as  possible.  By 
the  side  of  the  fine  chaussee,  with  its  regular  verst-posts, 
and  its  orderly  pile  of  small  stones  at  recurring 
intervals,  its  telegraph-poles  and  all  similar  signs  of 
modem  civilisation,  not  omitting  the  occasional  rush 
of  the  frantic  motor-car,  there  will  be  found  a  rugged 
track  with  two  deep  parallel  ruts  ;  it  is  this,  which 
requires  no  repair,  that  the  peasant  uses,  and  along 
which  his  cart  is  slowly  and  laboriously  drawTi  by  his 
hardy  and  reverse  from  showy  horses.  In  the  winter 
the  entire  scene  is  changed,  there  is  no  chaussee  nor 
side  track,  the  whole  country-side  is  covered  by  a 
mantle  of  snow  several  feet  thick,  and  the  road  is 
now  a  sledge  track.  Through  a  vast  expanse  of 
whiteness  is  a  track  worn  brown  with  use,  curiously 
uneven,  with  ditches  and  little  hillocks  not  unlike  a 
switch-back  railway,  and  here  and  there  marked  by  a 
solitary  fir  tree,  cut  down  and  brought  from  the 
neighbouring  forest  and  firmly  inserted  in  the  snow 
to  mark  the  place  where]^th^  track  should  be,  for 

63 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

the  snow  often  falls  thick  and  fast,  and  will  in  a 
night  obhterate  the  hard-beaten  track,  which  it  is 
nevertheless  some  times  dangerous  to  leave,  for  horse 
and  sledge  might  sink  or  get  stuck  fast  in  the  loose, 
deep-lying  snow. 

The  road  leads  us  to  the  village.  But  the  village 
treats  this  same  road  with  as  much  respect  as  had 
been  previously  shown  it  by  the  peasant.  The  little 
wooden  huts  or  cottages  of  which  it  is  composed 
recede  a  good  distance  from  it,  leaving  plenty  of  room 
for  side-tracks  left  and  right.  Each  Httle  cottage 
has  its  own  courtyard  surrounded  by  palings,  with 
outhouses,  stables,  etc.,  and  these  courtyards  are  not 
contiguous,  there  is  usually  a  considerable  interval 
between.  Thus  it  comes  about  that  the  village  is 
usually  composed  of  a  double  row,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  road,  of  stragghng  cottages.  We  will  en- 
deavour to  gain  admission  to  one  of  these  cottages 
in  order  to  obtain  an  idea  of  a  Russian  interior.  If 
our  visit  is  made  in  the  winter,  we  shall  find  the  door 
covered  with  felt  and  matting  to  keep  out  the 
draught.  In  order  to  gain  admittance  it  will  perhaps 
be  advisable  to  rap  gently  at  one  of  the  little  windows. 
The  door  will  then  be  opened  cautiously,  a  head  will 
peep  out,  and  we  shall  be  invited  in.  **  We  crave 
your  favour  *' — "  Milosty  prossim,''  is  the  con- 
ventional greeting. 

On  the  opening'bf  the  door  we  are  at  once  in  the 
dwelling-room  of  the  peasant.  It  has  clean,  deal 
boards,  nowall  '^papers,  no  stucco  ceiling,  but  deal 


64 


THE    PEASANT   AND   VILLAGE    LIFE 


everywhere.  The  cottage  is  usually  made  of  logs  with 
pieces  of  tow  or  felt  in  between  to  keep  out  the  cold. 
In  a  comer  of  this  room  is  a  plain  deal  table,  and 
along  the  walls  and  on  two  sides  of  it  there  run  deal 
benches.  Above  the  table  in  the  comer  of  the 
cottage  and  near  the  ceiling  hangs  the  ikon,  a  sacred 
picture,  a  small  lamp  suspended  by  cords  burning  in 
front  of  it.  We  take  off  our  head  covering,  bow  in 
the  direction  of  the  ikon,  cross  ourselves,  invoke  the 
blessing  of  God  on  the  occupants,  and  are  then 
invited  to  a  seat  on  one  of  the  benches,  and  if  possible 
just  under  the  ikon,  for  that  is  the  seat  of  honour. 

The  peasant  who  receives  us  will  probably  be  a  tall, 
bearded  man,  with  grey  hair,  grey  eyes,  and  wrinkled, 
weather-beaten  face,  having  a  kindly  and  simple 
expression.  He  will  be  attired  in  a  cotton  shirt, 
blue,  red  or  grey,  with  a  sash  round  the  waist,  and 
faUing  over  his  cotton  trousers,  which  have  been 
caught  at  the  knee  by  linen  bands,  not  unlike  puttees, 
secured  by  cords  wound  round  the  leg  in  lattice 
pattem  after  the  Italian  fashion.  The  wife  of  his 
bosom  will  be  a  fine,  strapping  woman,  also  dressed 
in  a  cotton  shirt  with  a  cotton  skirt  over  it,  coming 
up  to  the  very  arm-pits,  no  waist.  The  shoes  of  both 
man  and  woman  will  be  of  plaited  mshes.  No  fire 
can  be  discovered  in  the  room,  but  there  is  a  huge 
baker's  oven  in  the  centre,  surrounded  by  shelves  on 
which  the  family  sleep. 

Immediately  on  our  arrival  the  samovar  will  be  put 
up  for  the  boiling  of  water,  and  presently  tea  will  be 

65 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

offered.  The  tea  is  made  in  a  china  pot,  and  poured 
into  glasses.  Milk  is  not  usual,  but  there  will  be 
sugar,  perhaps  a  lemon,  possibly  some  rusks,  and 
certainly  jam,  home-made,  most  excellent  and  tooth- 
some black  bread,  coarse  salt,  probably  no  butter. 
The  more  substantial  meal  is  served  in  a  big  bowl, 
it  consists  of  kasha,  a  kind  of  porridge,  very  sustaining 
and  succulent.  Meat  is  generally  boiled  in  a  sort  of 
stew  or  soup.  Everybody  sits  round  the  table  and 
is  armed  with  a  wooden  spoon,  which  is  dipped  into 
the  bowl,  and  the  resultant  catch  is  then  at  once, 
conveyed  to  the  mouth.  You  will  find  the  peasant 
surrounded  by  his  sons  and  daughters  and  daughters- 
in-law  and  his  grand-children,  all  dressed  in  cotton. 
When  he  goes  out  in  the  winter  he  puts  on  large  felt 
boots  which  reach  to  his  knees  and  are  very  warm. 
He  has  either  a  sheepskin,  with  the  wool  inside,  or  a 
freize  coat  of  a  material  very  similar  to  the  felt  in 
his  boots,  which  is  quite  impervious  to  cold.  On  his 
head  he  has  a  wadded  cap  which  sinks  over  his  ears, 
and  with  his  lapty,  or  wool-lined  leather  gloves,  in 
which  there  are  no  divisions  for  the  fingers,  only  a 
separate  piece  for  the  thumb,  he  can  defy  any  weather. 
His  wife  is  similarly  arrayed,  except  that  she  wears 
a  decent  woollen  shawl  neatly  wrapped  round  her 
head. 

The  walls  of  the  hut  are  not  papered,  and  are  devoid 
of  ornament ;  but  the  Russian  native  love  of  colour 
will  come  out,  and  hence  we  find  pasted  upon  these 
bare  walls  weird,  garish-coloured  prints,  representing 

66 


THE    PEASANT   AND   VILLAGE    LIFE 

the  tortures  of  hell,  the  happiness  of  heaven,  episodes 
from  the  lives  of  the  saints,  the  exploits  of  legendary 
heroes,  and  also  battle  pictures  of  fights  with  Turks 
and  Japanese,  portraits  of  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empress,  and,  still  in  places,  of  the  famous  General 
Skobeleff,  whom  the  Russian  people  idolised. 

Some  agricultural  instruments  and  workshop  tools 
will  be  found  about  the  cottage.  Dogs  and  cats  are 
not  imknown,  although  the  former  are  rarely  ad- 
mitted into  the  precincts  of  the  dwelling-house,  for 
they  are  considered  unclean. 

Every  Saturday  the  Russian  turns  his  cottage  into 
a  sort  of  vapour  bath,  and  steams  and  washes  himself 
in  the  stove.  In  the  long  winter  months  in  some 
parts  of  Russia  village  industries  are  followed,  and 
the  peasants  turn  out  a  number  of  useful  and  fancy 
articles,  some  of  which  are  beginning  to  find  a  ready 
sale  even  in  England.  The  toy  industry  is  Hkely  to 
receive  a  great  stimulus  from  the  war  with  Germany. 
There  is  also  a  considerable  metal  and  cutlery 
industry,  and  in  some  regions  even  parts  of  machinery 
are  turned  out.  Unfortunately  much  of  this  labour 
is  sweated,  and  in  the  hands  of  usurers,  who  are  called 
Koulaki,  or  fists,  because  they  terrorise  and  grind 
down  their  victims. 

There  exists  a  very  widely-disseminated  theory 
that  the  Russian  peasant  is  addicted  to  vodka,  and 
that  the  recent  total  abolition  edicts  were  absolutely 
necessary  in  order  to  save  the  country  from  itself, 
or,  in  other  words,  from  alcoholism,  and  it  was  once 


67 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


the  fashion  to  say  that  the  Russians,  as  a  nation, 
were  drinking  themselves  into  prosperity.  Had  this 
indeed  been  the  case  the  introduction  of  compulsory 
temperance  would  have  been  attended  with  much 
greater  difficulties.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Russian 
peasant  is  not  so  far  removed  from  grace  as  the 
majority  of  the  British  public  imagine.  In  his 
ordinary  every-day  Ufe  he  tastes  no  alcohol.  Tea, 
water,  and  a  tasteless  drink  somewhat  resembhng 
small-beer,  but  without  any  alcohol  contents  what- 
ever, and  called  kvass,  are  the  national  beverages  ; 
vodka,  literally  '*  little  water,"  a  term  of  endearment, 
is  resorted  to  in  order  to  bring  gaiety  and  happiness 
into  otherwise  dull  and  grey  lives.  In  his  days  of 
servitude  and  misery  the  peasant  drank  vodka  to 
drown  care.  On  high  days  and  festivals,  when  it 
was  desired  to  be  jovial  and  happy,  the  peasant 
sought  in  the  bottle  the  obhvion  from  his  surround- 
ings which  nothing  else  could  give.  Drunkenness 
became  synonymous  with  happiness,  and  to  be  drunk 
was  compared  with  being  in  heaven.  On  ordinary 
work-days  the  peasant  is  sober,  it  is  only  on  hoUdays 
that  he  gets  drunk,  and  then  a  very  small  quantity 
of  vodka  suffices  to  intoxicate  him.  I  have  known 
a  peasant  get  drunk  on  one  wine-glass  of  vodka, 
although  this  spirit  is  certainly  no  more  potent  than 
gin.  Unfortunately  Russia  has  too  many  hoHdays. 
To-day  the  peasant  is  in  a  far  happier  condition  than 
he  was  fifty  years  ago,  and  drink  is  no  longer 
indispensable  to  drown  care.    Thus  it  was  possible 

68 


THE   PEASANT   AND   VILLAGE   LIFE 


to  abolish  the  use  of  stimulants  without  creating  a 
revolution. 

We  have  seen  how  simple  the  life  of  the  village  is, 
how  small  are  the  wants  of  the  peasant,  but  it  must 
not  be  supposed  that  the  resources  of  modem 
civiUsation  are  not  rapidly  changing  these  old  and 
primitive  conditions.  Every  year,  there  is  no 
exaggeration  in  saying,  the  wants  of  the  peasant 
grow,  and  he  is  thus  beginning  to  discover  that  there 
are  other  sources  of  enjoyment  besides  getting  drunk. 

When  the  peasant  was  emancipated  he  was  given 
land  to  cultivate,  which  was  taken  from  the  country 
gentleman,  but  in  order  that  the  country  gentleman 
should  not  be  deprived  of  labour,  the  land  thus 
expropriated  was  insufficient  to  keep  the  peasant,  he 
was  compelled  to  work  for  the  gentleman  in  order  to 
Uve.  Moreover,  it  was  feared  that  if  the  peasant  was 
made  absolute  proprietor  of  the  land  he  tilled  he 
might  easily  be  induced  to  part  with  it  and  thus 
become  pauperised.  To  prevent  so  grievous  a 
national  calamity  as  the  wholesale  pauperisation  of 
the  people,  the  land  was  made  the  property,  not  of 
the  individual,  but  of  the  village  community,  or  mir, 
which  was  also  the  unit  of  local  government.  This 
system  did  not  work  satisfactorily,  and  in  recent 
years  this  communal  land  tenure  has  been  aboHshed, 
and  the  peasant  constituted  the  proprietor  of  his  own 
land.  The  mir  still  remains  as  the  parish  council, 
the  coimty  council  being  the  zemstvo.  Another 
quaint    village    institution     was    the    krougovaya 

69 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


THE   PEASANT  AND   VILLAGE   LIFE 


porouka,  or  system  of  mutual  guarantees,  by  means 
of  which  the  entire  village,  and  not  the  individual, 
was  responsible  for  the  taxes.  This  system  led  to 
abuses,  and  has  gone  to  the  Umbo  of  the  past  with 
the  mir.  The  zemsky  natchalnik"  or  rural  chief,  still 
remains.  This  is  a  curious  office.  When  the  peasant 
was  emancipated  it  was  felt  that  he  would  require 
guidance  in  mundane  affairs,  and  especially  in  his 
relations  with  his  fellow-peasants,  and  consequently 
he  was  given  an  official  counsellor  and  friend  in  the 
person  of  an  honorary  justice  of  the  peace,  who  took 
the  place  in  many  respects  of  his  former  master. 
These  justices  of  the  peace  were  recruited  from  the 
country  gentry,  they  were  unpaid,  and  held  in  great 
respect.  Under  Alexander  III.,  however,  the  in- 
evitable reactionary  wave  set  in.  The  justices  of  the 
peace  were  denounced  as  being  too  liberal  in  their 
tendencies  and  too  lenient  to^Vards  the  peasant,  and 
it  was  argued  that  this  latter  childlike  person,  so 
recently  a  serf,  required  to  have  a  master  set  over 
him,  and  so  he  was  put  under  the  tutelage  of  a  paid 
official,  the  zemsky  natchalnik.  This  official  was 
recruited  from  the  same  class  as  the  justice  of  peace, 
but  is  not  supposed  to  have  been  quite  so  Hberal, 
indeed  he  but  too  often  became  the  willing  instru- 
ment of  the  reactionary  party.  For  all  that  the 
office  has  been  maintained,  and  has  not  had  a 
baneful  influence  on  the  whole.  The  zemsky 
natchahiik  has  made  the  peasant  feel  that  although 
he   was   emancipated   from  the  estate  owner,    he 

70 


still  had  a  master  over  him,  and  was  not  entirely 
irresponsible. 

At  one  time  the  state  of  the  peasantry  and  of 
agriculture  in  Russia  was  causing  misgivings  to  the 
governing  classes.  The  institution  of  the  mir,  or 
village  community,  and  of  the  krougovaya  porouka, 
had  introduced  a  sort  of  rural  sociaUsm,  and  was 
reported  to  have  made  the  peasants  careless  and 
frivolous.  It  had  also  given  rise  to  a  class  of  peasant 
sweaters,  who  advanced  the  money  required  for 
taxation,  sowing  and  similar  purposes,  and  then 
oppressed  the  people  whom  they  had  got  under  their 
economic  control.  Thus,  however  beautiful  in  theory 
the  Russian  rural  system  might  have  appeared,  in 
practice  it  was  bringing  about  the  very  things  it  was 
supposed  to  avoid,  namely  the  pauperisation  of  the 
people.  Of  late  years  all  this  has  been  changed,  and 
the  peasant  is  gradually  becoming  a  normal  economic 
-  unit  whose  prosperity  or  the  reverse  is,  in  theory  at 
least,  dependent  on  his  own  efforts.  By  such  means 
alone  can  he  be  made  a  man  of,  and  raised  to  better 
things,  both  materially  and  morally. 

But  Httle  space  remains  to  describe  the  manners 
and  customs  of  a  singularly  unsophisticated  and 
lovable  people.  The  principal  sport  of  the  young 
men  is  to  play  at  babki,  a  game  which  may  be 
conveniently  described  as  a  cross  between  skittles 
and  marbles.  The  national  dances  are  famous,  but 
one  of  their  prettiest  customs  is  the  chorovod,  or 
moving  choir.     On  summer  evenings  the  young  girls 

7' 


-I 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 


bf  the  village  will  form  a  sort  of  circle  round  the 
leadership  of  one  of  their  number,  and  hand  in  hand 
move  in  solemn  rotation,  singing  charming  national 
songs  under  the  direction  of  the  leader.  The  sound 
of  these  pure,  clear  voices  in  the  balmy,  still  air  is 
most  poetic  and  romantic  ;  it  is  peculiar  to  Russian 
life,  and  defies  all  attempt  at  description.  It  must 
be  heard  to  be  understood,  no  poor  words  of 
mine  can  conjure  up  the  charm,  the  weird,  plaintive 
melancholy,  the  wild  joyousness,  of  these  chants. 
The  famous  "  Chanson  Triste "  of  Tchaikovsky 
conveys  some  idea,  but  only  of  one  kind,  of  these 
remarkably  picturesque  Russian  national  songs. 

I  have  said  the  Russian  peasant  is  kindly.  The 
best  proof  of  this  will  be  found  in  the  broad  charity  of 
his  disposition.  Nobody  who  asks  a  Russian  peasant 
for  help,  Christa  radyi — for  Christ's  sake — will  go 
empty  away.  The  criminal,  once  convicted  and 
sentenced,  however  much  he  may  have  been  execrated 
before,  at  once  becomes  an  object  of  pity  and  charity, 
and  as  the  gangs  of  convicts  pass  through  a  town  or 
village  collections  are  made  on  their  behalf.  In  some 
parts  of  Russia  the  people  are  too  delicate  to  require 
the  gratitude  or  to  desire  to  know  the  identity  of  the 
recipient  of  charity.  The  person  in  want  knocks  at 
the  cottage  window,  places  a  receptacle  for  food  on 
the  window-sill  and  then  conceals  himself,  returning 
after  a  time  to  find  food  or  coin  awaiting  him. 
People  with  such  customs  have  a  great  future  before 
them. 


72 


CHAPTER   VI 


THE  WORKING  CLASSES 


As  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  peasants 
of  Russia  have  still  something  patriarchal,  primi- 
tive and  innocent  about  them ;  they  are  more  or  less 
hke  children.  The  working  classes  belong  to  a 
different  order  of  ideas.  By  working  classes  I  mean 
labourers  working  for  wages  and  living  in  towns. 
In  this  class  I  include  all  casual  as  well  as  skilled 
labourers,  and  especially  factory  hands. 

Just  as  the  peasant  is  patriarchal,  picturesque 
and  altogether  delightful,  so  is  the  Russian  working- 
man,  speaking  of  him  in  the  mass,  the  reverse. 
He  may  be  said  to  have  no  virtues  and  no  rehgion, 
no  self-respect  and  no  ambition.  Such  is  the  normal 
Russian  working-man  of  the  old  school,  and  the 
reason  for  his  being  what  he  is  is  not  far  to  seek,  and 
very  comprehensible. 

In  the  days  before  1861  the  lower  classes  were  all 
serfs,  as  I  have  already  stated.  After  their  emanci- 
pation they  were  given  land  and  expected  to  till  the 
soil.  But  during  the  long  winter  months,  when  the 
groimd  was  covered  with  layers  upon  layers  of  snow, 
what  was  the  poor  peasant  to  do  ?  Was  he  to  sleep  on 
his  stove  and  hibernate  Hke  a  bear  ?  Or  was  he  to  take 


73 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

up  some  handicraft  and  endeavour  to  make  some 
article,  useful  or  otherwise,  for  which  he  could 
obtain  a  sale  ?  In  many  cases  the  latter  was  the 
ready  solution  of  the  problem,  but  it  was  not  the 
universal  solution.  There  was  yet  a  third  course  to 
be  adopted,  and  that  was  to  leave  his  wife  and  family 
behind  him  and  to  proceed  to  the  nearest  town  and 
find  work  for  the  winter  months.  Indeed,  in  his  days 
of  serfdom  his  master  frequently  hired  him  out  in 
this  way,  or  permitted  him,  against  an  annual 
payment  called  obrok,  to  follow  some  calling  in 
the  town.  Sometimes,  therefore,  young  fellows  went 
off  on  their  own  in  search  of  work,  but  more  fre- 
quently they  would  organise  themselves  in  gangs, 
called  artels,  and  Uve  on  co-operative  lines. 

The  simple  Russian  peasant,  as  we  have  seen,  has 
strong  leanings  towards  universal  brotherhood  and 
socialism.      His   land    tenure    was    formerly    on   a 
communal  basis,  and  so  he  naturally  drifted  into 
similar  methods  when  away  from  home.    The  artel 
took  the  place  of  the  mir,  or  village  commune,  and 
into  this  he  would  pour  all  his  earnings,  in  return 
for  which  the  artel  engaged  lodgings  for  him,  also  a 
cook,  bought  food  and  fuel,  and  housed  and  fed  him. 
Whatever  remained  over  in  the  coffers  of  the  artel 
after  food  and  lodging  and  similar  necessaries  had 
been   provided   was     distributed   equally,    without 
reference  to  the  amount  each  member  had  con- 
tributed, amongst  the  gang.    Here  we  see  at  a  glance 
the  rudimentary  form  of  practical  socialism. 


74 


THE    WORKING   GLASSES 

Thus  far  all  would  seem  well.  The  migratory 
peasant  is  well  cared  for,  his  earnings  are  husbanded, 
he  retains  the  simplicity  of  his  mind  and  his 
altruistic  customs.  Unhappily  this  is  only  one  side  of 
the  medal.  There  is  a  reverse,  less  attractive,  less 
edifying.  The  young  peasant,  uprooted  as  it  were 
from  the  soil,  and  turned  loose  with  a  lot  of  other 
young  fellows  similar  to  himself,  away  from  family 
ties,  exposed  to  the  temptations  of  town  life,  rapidly 
becomes  demoralised.  In  the  majority  of  cases  he 
has  a  wife  and  children,  whom  he  has  left  behind, 
and  whose  existence  he  may  even  forget  amidst  the 
squalid  attractions  of  the  dissipations  of  the  town. 
The  mir  had  taken  the  place  of  the  country  gentle- 
man, and  the  obrok  had  to  be  payed  to  it  instead. 
When  out  of  employment,  or  prevented  by  unforeseen 
expenditure  from  paying  the  obrok,  the  village 
commune  refused  to  renew  the  passport,  hence 
complications  and  eventual  outlawry,  for  the  pass- 
portless  individual  becomes  a  vagabond  and  an 
outlaw ;  in  any  case  demoralisation  of  some  sort  is 
boimd  to  be  the  consequence  of  this  migration  to  the 
town. 

I  have  so  far  been  talking  of  casual  labour  only, 
of  men  who  leave  their  native  village  temporarily, 
who  become  cab-drivers,  water-carriers,  hewers  of 
wood,  and  follow  similar  occupations.  When  we  turn 
to  factory  labour  we  find  the  conditions  still  more 
unpropitious.  The  factory  hand,  removed  from  all 
family  influences,  develops  characteristics  the  reverse 


75 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

of  lovely.  His  physique  deteriorates,  his  complexion 
assumes  an  ashen  pallor.  He  lives  and  worics  for  the 
sole  object  of  earning  sufficient  money  to  satisfy  the 
craving  for  vodka,  which  has  become  a  disease.  To 
get  drunk,  to  obtain  oblivion  or  to  seek  a  temporary 
artificial  happiness,  has  become  the  one  thing  worth 
living  for.  To  satisfy  this  craving  the  factory  hand 
will  do  anything.  He  has  been  known  to  get  drunk  on 
methylated  spirits  and  lubricating  or  engine  oil.  The 
family  ceases  to  exist .  Housed  in  insanitary  barracks, 
his  sexual  relations  become  irregular  and  casual,  a 
state  of  things  is  brought  into  being  very  similar 
to  what  might  be  expected  to  result  if  the  apostles 
of  free  love  had  their  way.  Illegitimacy  ceases  to 
be  a  stigma,  and  thus  is  bom  and  bred  a  race  of 
irresponsible,  irreclaimable  human  animals,  whose 
lives  will  be  far  less  respectable  than  those  of  monkeys 
in  captivity.  The  works  of  Maxim  Gorky  show  us 
what  monsters  thoughtless  industrialism  has  thus 
created.  Mr.  Stephen  Graham,  who  knows  his  Russia, 
hints  at  the  unlovehness  of  this  phase  of  Russian  life, 
and  preaches  agriculturalism  as  the  only  salvation. 

In  a  country  which  is  for  six  months  of  the  year, 
more  or  less,  covered  with  snow,  although  in  recent 
times,  owing  it  is  believed  to  the  gradual  deforesta- 
tion, the  snow  fall  is  declining,  agricultural  pursuits 
cannot  keep  the  peasant  fully  employed  all  the  year 
roimd,  hence  village  industries  are  recommended  as 
the  remedy. 

For  good  or  for  evil,  however,  factory  life  has 


76 


THE    WORKING    CLASSES 

become,  and  is  increasingly  growing,  the  feature  of 
modem  industriahsm  all  the  world  over.  In  Russia 
to-day  there  are  towns  composed  entirely  of  factory 
hands.  They  are  far  more  vicious  than  the  mining 
camps  of  America,  so  vividly  described  by  Bret 
Harte.  They  are  simply  sinks  of  iniquity,  where 
nothing  is  sacred,  and  human  life  is  insecure.  The 
racial  deterioration  that  factory  Hfe  has  produced  is 
appalling.  This  is  not  a  statistical  study,  nor  a 
pessimistic  sociological  treatise,  it  is  just  an  attempt 
to  portray  in  simple  language  the  conditions  of 
Russian  life,  and  therefore  we  do  not  propose  to  over- 
paint  the  gloomy  features  of  this  side  of  her  develop- 
ment. We  went  through  a  similar  phase  in  England. 
A  study  of  the  conditions  of  Enghsh  factory  life  in 
the  first  half  of  the  last  century  will  reveal  a  state  of 
affairs  nearly  as  hopeless.     , 

The  Russian  Government  were  made  aware  of  the 
trend  of  things  at  a  comparatively  early  date. 
A  sensational  Russian  writer  published  some  thirty 
years  ago  a  tremendously  powerful  novel  entitled 
The  Slums  of  St.  Petersburg,  which  for  downright 
hopeless  and  depressing  realism  left  Emile  Zola  miles 
behind.  But  it  was  not  only  by  literary  means  that 
the  Govemment  was  awakened  to  the  tme  condition 
of  the  working  classes.  There  were  other  and  more 
convincing  evidences.  One  of  the  strongest  of  these 
was  the  spread  of  the  revolutionary  spirit,  the  general 
discontent  and  insubordination  of  the  workers 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  countr5^ 


77 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 


THE   WORKING   CLASSES 


A  feature  of  the  revolutionary  propaganda  in 
Russia  is  that  when  it  was  intellectual  and  philoso- 
phical, when  it  was  a  foreign  importation  and 
consequently  exotic,  it  did  not  appeal  to  the  people. 
Taking  its  rise  in  the  immature  brains  of  university 
students,  it  assumed  an  alien  form,  never  caught 
hold  of  the  lower  classes,  and  was  regarded  by  them 
with  distrust  and  enmity.  As  a  young  man  in 
Moscow  I  remember  the  casual  labourers  in  the  big 
market  adjoining  the  university  turning  out  and 
mobbing  a  students'  demonstration  to  such  effect  that 
a  riot  was  only  prevented  by  the  calling  out  of  the 
troops.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Nihilists  with  their 
visionary  theories  never  succeeded  in  getting  any 
hold  of  the  people. 

Among  the  factory  hands,  however,  surreptitious 
seditionary  literature  spread  much  more  rapidly, 
and  the  political  police,  as  industrialism  developed, 
caused  the  Government  much  uneasiness  by  their 
disquieting  reports.  In  order  to  ascertain  the  extent 
to  which  revolutionary  ideas  had  taken  root  with  the 
working  classes,  trades  unions  were  encouraged,  and 
agents  provocateurs  employed  to,  as  it  were,  segregate 
the  disaffected.  This  very  dangerous  experiment, 
which  in  addition  to  its  extreme  immorality  must 
be  likened  to  a  sort  of  political  playing  with  fire,  had 
the  most  disconcerting  results.  The  poUce  had 
conjured  up  the  devil,  but  they  did  not  know  how 
to  lay  him.  The  strikes  and  riots  which  were  directly 
traceable  to  this  unfortunate  Machiavellian  cimning 

78 


of  the  secret  police  acted  like  a  match  to  a  train  of 
gunpowder. 

Russian  statesmen  recognised  that  something  had 
to  be  done.  Mere  repression  was  not  enough.  It 
was  felt  that  the  conditions  must  be  changed,  that 
the  lives  of  the  working  classes  must  be  made 
brighter  and  healthier,  that  the  demoralisation  had 
gone  too  far  for  mere  palliative  measures,  that 
radical  root  and  branch  reforms  were  called  for. 
What  did  the  paternal  Russian  Government  do  ? 
It  passed  laws  for  the  regulation  of  the  working 
hours,  and  the  housing  and  hygiene  generally  of  the 
factory  hands ;  and  then  in  order  to  see  that  these 
new  regulations  were  properly  observed  by  the 
factory  owners,  it  appointed  to  each  factory  a  resident 
official  inspector,  whose  duty  it  was  to  watch  over 
the  workpeople,  to  act  as  an  intermediary  between 
them  and  the  management,  to  see  that  they  had  no 
grievances,  and  to  nip  in  the  bud  any  signs  of  political 
disaffection.  These  official  guardian  angels  have  in 
a  great  number  of  cases  taken  their  duties  very 
seriously,  and  have  really  been  of  great  benefit  and 
service  to  the  workers ;  in  other  cases,  however,  their 
attitude  has  been  of  the  usual  official  and  per- 
functory kind,  for  their  sympathies  have  too  often 
been  entirely  on  the  side  of  the  management,  and  but 
little  on  that  of  the  men.  Nevertheless,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  condition  of  the  factory  hands 
has  of  recent  years  improved  immensely,  and  is  still 
improving. 

79 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

For  all  that,  the  great  problem  which  the  State 
and  society  have  to  face  in  Russia,  as  much  as  in  other 
countries,  is  the  problem  of  the  working  classes. 
There  is,  moreover,  one  feature  of  this  problem 
which  is  calculated  to  make  it  more  difficult  of 
solution  than  it  is  in  other  and  older  countries. 

Throughout  Western  Europe  the  growth  of  society, 
as  at  present  constituted,  may  be  said  to  be  the 
result  of  centuries  of  evolution.    Hence  there  are  no 
hard  and  fast  lines  of  demarcation  between  its  various 
layers.     The  industrial  development  has  proceeded 
slowly  and  normally,  in  response  to  natural  require- 
ments, adapting  itself  from  time  to  time  to  altered 
conditions  brought  about  by  a  variety  of  factors,  such 
as  the  new  inventions,  the  discoveries  of  science, 
the  democratisation  of  capital,  and  so  on.   These  have 
all  been  of  slow  growth.    If  we  study  the  structure 
of  society  in  the  Middle  Ages  and  compare  it  with 
that  of  to-day,  we  shall  be  startled  by  the  extra- 
ordinary changes  that  have  taken  place,  but  when  we 
begin   to  study  those   changes   and  endeavour  to 
ascertain  how  and  by  what  means  they  have  been 
brought  about,  we  shall  at  once  be  struck  by  the 
slowness  of  the  growth,  and  the  difficulty  of  setting  up 
landmarks   of   progress.     The   growth   of   modem 
society  has  been  slow,  it  has  been  natural,  for  it  has 
been  imconscious.     We  have  all  been  trying  to  do 
something  for  the  benefit  either  of  ourselves  or  of  the 
community,  and  the  cumulative  effect  of  all  these 
endeavours  is  what  we  see  to-day. 


THE   WORKINCx   CLASSES 

In  Russia  evolution  has  been  artificial.  It  has 
not  proceeded  naturally  from  within  Hke  a 
spontaneous  growth,  but  it  has  been  stimulated 
from  without,  and  hence  the  results  have  partaken 
largely  of  the  nature  of  hot-house  fruit. 

Peter  the  Great  converted  Russia  into  a  European 
state  by  a  wave  of  the  magician's  wand,  or  shall  we 
not  more  truthfully  say  by  ^r^^V  of  the  wh4f^-»^ 
Catherine  the  Great  jmpnrtrd  mltmr,  Alexander  II. 
rnnfpfrpf^  freedom,  his  grandson  representative 
institutions.  In  1861  the  structure  of  Russian 
society  was  essentially  mediaevalj  fifty-five  years 
later  it  has  become  absolutely  modern^  So  rapid  a 
transformation  could  liot  nave  been  effected  by 
natural  growth,  it  has  been  stimulated  by  the  hot- 
house air  of  a  benevolent  despotism. 

That  so  great  a  change  should  have  been  possible 
without  serious  bloodshed,  without  revolution,  with- 
out a  general  unsettlement  of  the  minds  of  the 
people,  and  without  loss  of  their  national  char- 
acteristics, is  very  reassuring,  and  argues  well  for  the 
future.  One  disadvantage  was,  however,  inseparable 
from  so  sudden  a  change.  Where  there  is  no  gradual 
transition  there  must  of  necessity  be  great  disloca- 
tion, a  great  social  unsettlement,  and  this  is  what 
has  occurred. 

Let  us  take  the  example  of  the  French,  the  English, 
the  German  people.  The  working  classes  there  have 
an  inducement  to  thrift,  because  an  increase  of  their 
prosperity,  which  may  take  them  up  a  rung  of  the 


80 


81 


i 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

social  ladder,  has  no  disturbing  effect  on  their 
imagination,  does  not  present  any  of  the  features  of 
a  fairy  tale,  there  is  no  magician's  wand  about  it. 
They  have  cousins,  relations  of  their  wives, 
acquaintances,  who  are  better  off  than  themselves, 
there  is  consequently  ever  present  the  spur  of  emula- 
tion, which  urges  on  those  who  possess  any  ambition 
to  improve  their  condition.  This  state  of  aifairs 
pervades  all  classes,  and  thus  people  rise  by  imper- 
ceptible means,  by  stepping  along  the  closely-placed 
rungs  of  the  ladder  to  advancement  and  prosperity. 
The  middle  classes  act  as  steps  between  the  rich  and 
the  poor,  a  means,  perhaps,  as  much  of  descent  as 
of  ascent. 

But  in  Russia  there  were  no  middle  classes  until 
the  other  day,  and  there  existed  two  totally  dis- 
similar worlds,  which  had  nothing  in  common  with 
each  other — the  world  of  the  worker,  and  that  of 
the  gentleman.  The  worker  had  but  little  inducement 
to  advancement,  seeing  that  he  could  not  rise,  that 
he  must  perpetually  remain  a  member  of  the  class 
from  which  he  sprung. 

It  is  by  the  formation  of  intermediary  layers  in  the 
social  state  that  the  Russian  working  classes  will  be 
saved.  Fortunately  these  intermediary  layers  are 
already  beginning  to  take  a  sort  of  indefinite  shape. 
The  spirit  is  moving  on  the  waters.  By  the  removal 
of  the  greatest  temptation  to  which  the  Russian 
working-man  is  exposed,  the  temptation  of  drink, 
further  inducements  to  progress  are  offered. 

82 


THE   WORKING   CLASSES 

The  careful  reader  of  the  foregoing  pages  may 
summarise  as  follows :  Socialism  in  various  forms  as 
a  panacea  and  a  means  of  assuring  the  well-being 
of  the  Russian  masses  has  been  tried,  found  wanting, 
and  is  in  course  of  being  aboHshed,  seeing  that  it  has 
been  foimd  to  be  incompatible  with  hberty. 

There  is  no  exaggeration  in  this.  The  reformers  of 
sixty  years  ago  were  all  socialists  at  heart  at  a  time 
when  socialism  was  the  fashion,  and  individual 
initiative  was  universally  distrusted.  It  is  curious 
to  reflect  that  it  was  left  to  men  Hke  John  Stuart  Mill, 
who  was  avowedly  unorthodox,  and  had  no  religious 
behefs,  to  express  a  faith  in  Hberty  and  the  free 
evolution  of  society,  whilst  the  fanatics  of  both 
camps,  the  progressives  and  the  reactionaries  aUke, 
whether  believers  in  Providence  or  not,  were  at  least 
united  in  their  determination  to  leave  nothing  to 
chance.  The  most  devout  of  professed  Christians 
betrayed  a  profound  though  probably  unconscious 
lack  of  faith  in  the  Almighty  and  His  governance  of 
the  universe,  seeing  that  they  dreaded  the  con- 
sequences of   allowing  the  individual  to  do  as  he 

liked. 

But  to  return  to  the  Russian  workman.  To  the 
practical  person,  his  moral,  social  and  poUtical 
condition  are  after  all  of  very  Httle  interest,  the 
important  question  is  what  manner  of  craftsman  he 
may  be,  in  other  words,  has  he  natural  abihty,  is  he 
tractable,  sensitive  to  new  ideas,  is  he  a  good  work- 
man or  a  bad  one  ? 

83 


L 


, 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA  ' 

On  this  point  opinions  differ.    There  are  people  who 
maintain  that  the  Russian  workman  is  a  slothful  sot, 
ignorant,    obstinate,    unteachable,     unmanageable, 
hopelessly  stupid,  a  savage  and  a  drunkard.    What 
has  been  said  here  about  his  evolution  will  incline 
most  readers  to  think  that  it  would  indeed  be  a 
miracle  if  this  opinion  were  not  in  accordance  with 
fact.      But    those   who   know    Russia   best,    those 
employers   of  labour   who   have   really   taken   the 
trouble  to  study  their  workmen,  are,  strange  to  say, 
of  a  very  different  mind.    They  will,  on  the  contrary,' 
maintain  that  the  Russian  workman  has  parts  and 
inborn  intelligence,  that  he  is  quick  to  learn,  adapt- 
able and  shrewd,  and  that  if  properly  handled  he 
will  not  merely  work  well,  but  will  work  harder  than 
the  workman  of  any  other  country. 

There  must  obviously  be  exaggeration  somewhere, 
and  the  truth  will  be  found  to  lie,  as  usual,  about 
half-way  between  the  two  extremes. 

That  the  Russian  working  classes  are  addicted  to 
drink  is  not  surprising,  seeing  that  they  have  as 
yet  but  few  other  pastimes.  That  they  are  lazy  is 
also  natural.  In  the  first  place  laziness  is  a  very 
human  weakness,  and  secondly  it  is  well  known  that 
people  will  not  work  as  well  in  captivity  as  they  do 
in  a  state  of  freedom ;  now,  as  we  have  seen,  fifty- 
five  years  ago  the  Russian  working  classes  were  serfs. 
There  is  yet  the  additional  factor  of  cHmate,  the  long 
winter  months  are  very  conducive  to  idleness. 
The  above  are  the  external  conditions.     We  now 

84 


THE   WORKING   CLASSES 

come  to  the  personal  factor.  Here  we  meet  with 
surprises.  Every  visitor  to  Russia  is  struck  with  the 
natural  aptitude  of  the  Russian  lower  classes.  They 
are  totally  different  from  their  German  neighbours. 
On  crossing  the  frontier  the  contrast  between  the 
two  races  is  particularly  striking.  Behind  us,  in 
Germany,  we  have  left  a  surly,  dogged,  hard-featured, 
unresponsive  crowd  of  workers,  uncouth  and  in- 
artistic in  appearance  and  mode  of  living.  In  Russia 
we  see  animated  countenances,  picturesque  if 
poverty-stricken  people,  and  we  seem  to  breathe 
an  atmosphere  of  amiabihty,  charity  and  mutual 
goodwill. 

The  visitor  to  Russia  is  astonished  to  discover  how 
handy  the  Russian  workman  is,  what  wonders  he 
can  perform  with  his  axe,  how  little  he  is  dependent 
on  appliances  and  tools.  When  we  turn  to  the 
skilled  trades  we  are  confronted  with  the  same 
phenomenon.  The  workman  is  intelligent  and 
adaptable,  and  rapidly  masters  any  trade  he  is  put 
to.  He  is  shrewd,  too,  and  quick  to  seize  an  advan- 
tage. An  illustration  will  suffice.  When  agricultural 
machinery  was  first  introduced  the  estate  owners 
found  that  the  peasants  regarded  it  with  jealous 
disfavour,  and  that  it  soon  got  out  of  repair,  and  as 
there  were  no  skilled  mechanics  available  it  became 
useless.  The  peasants  would  then  club  together,  buy 
it  for  a  mere  song,  ingeniously  mend  it  themselves, 
and  use  it  for  their  own  land,  when  it  gave  excellent 
results  and  did  not  get  out  of  repair  again.     This 

85 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

little  incident  is  eloquent,  and  speaks  volumes  for  the 
natural  ability  of  the  peasant. 

Generally  speaking,  the  Russian  workman  is  a 
capital  craftsman,  and  in  the  last  fifty  years  he  has 
made  extraordinary  progress.  Under  British 
management,  more  especially,  he  seems  to  develop 
his  best  qualities,  as  the  flourishing  condition  of 
Hughesovka  and  Serpukhov  will  testify.  The 
Enghsh  seem  to  understand  the  Russians  better  than 
any  other  nation,  and  the  Russians  like  English 
employers,  work  well  for  them,  and  are  tractable 
under  them.  The  Germans,  on  the  other  hand,  seem 
to  bring  out  the  worst  features  of  the  Russian 
character ;  they  are  hard  and  unsympathetic  task- 
masters, and  are  hated.  Somehow  the  Russian  and 
the  German  characters  will  not  mix,  they  are  antago- 
nistic, and  like  oil  and  water.  The  German  is 
pedantic,  phlegmatic,  and  works  doggedly  without 
enthusiasm  or  imagination,  whilst  the  Russian  is 
full  of  temperament,  his  mind  is  all  colour,  he  must 
have  S5mipathy,  and  his  interest  must  be  awakened. 
A  key-note  to  the  Russian  character  is  to  be  foimd 
m  the  word  for  beauty.  In  the  Russian  language 
a  beautiful  girl  is  described  as  a  red  girl,  everything 
beautiful  is  red,  and  even  beautiful  work  is  called 
"  pricrasnaya  rabota,*'  superlatively  red  work. 

AU  the  Russian  working  classes  require,  to  become 
the  formidable  rivals  of  the  rest  of  Europe,  is  education 
and  liberty,  and  this  they  are  getting.  The  strides 
which  education  is  making  are  surprising,  and  every 

86 


THE   WORKING   CLASSES 

time  I  visit  Russia  I  am  struck  by  the  progress  made 
since  the  last  visit.  Two  generations  ago  the  bulk 
of  the  population  was  iUiterate,  to-day  illiteracy  is 
comparatively  rare.  Every  village  has  its  school,  and 
universal  miUtary  service  is  an  additional  and  very 
important  educational  factor. 


87 


CHAPTER   VII 


THE  ARMY 


Every  nation  worth  its  salt  is  proud  of  its  army, 
and  to  this  rule  Russia  is  no  exception.     But  whilst 
in  nearly  every  other  country  pride  in  the  army 
implies  a  perhaps  greater  pride  in  the  generalship  the 
leaders  of  that  army  have  displayed,  in  Russia  the 
national  pride  is  more  democratic,  and  is  centred 
mainly  on  the  gallant  rank  and  file.     If  you  talk  to 
an    averagely    well-educated    Russian    about    the 
achievements  of  the  generals  of  his  country,  you  will 
find  that  the  names  of  only  two  are  household  words, 
they  are  divided  by  a  century,  and  their  fame  is  due 
as  much  to  their  eccentricities  as  to  their  military 
achievements,  they  are  Souvoroff  and  Skobeleff. 

Souvoroff  was  a  -contemporary  of  Catherine  the 
Great,  to  whose  keen  judgment  he  owed  his  triumph 
over  his  jealous  rivals,  and  yet  survived  her  long 
enough  to  defeat  Napoleon.  Most  historians  recog- 
nise  his  genius,  few  admit  his  sanity.  During  a 
council  of  war  presided  over  by  the  Empress  he  is 
reported  to  have  crouched  on  the  floor,  flapped  his 
arms  as  though  they  were  wings,  and,  hopping  round 
the  room,  to  have  crowed  like  a  cock.     It  was  he 

88 


THE   ARMY 

who  invented  the  famous  saying  :  "  The  bullet 's  a 
fool,  but  the  bayonet 's  a  fine  fellow."  When  his 
troops  were  practically  in  open  mutiny  whilst 
crossing  the  Alps,  and  were  for  retreating,  he  saved 
the  situation  by  causing  a  grave  to  be  dug  and 
having  himself  placed  in  it.  **  Now,*'  he  said,  "  you 
may  run  away,  but  I  shall  leave  my  bones  amidst 
these  snows."  It  is  stated  that  this  Uttle  bit  of 
acting  saved  the  situation  and  restored  disciphne 
amongst  the  men. 

Skobeleff  was,  if  possible,  even  more  of  a  mad-cap 
than  Souvoroff,  and  was  the  hero  of  the  Russo- 
Turkish  War.  His  father,  also  a  general,  was  a  great 
courtier  and  a  man  of  wealth,  who  put  his  son  into 
the  guards,  and  intended  him  to  make  what  is  called 
a  career.  The  youngster,  however,  w^as  much  too 
eccentric  to  conform  to  conventional  rules.  His 
extravagances  were  such  that  his  father  refused 
to  pay  his  debts  and  save  him  from  dishonour 
unless  he  married  a  wealthy  young  lady  of  his 
father's  choosing.  The  young  scamp  reluctantly 
accepted  the  terms,  but,  after  the  wedding,  left 
his  bride  at  the  church  door  and  never  set  eyes 
on  her  again.  Thereupon  the  father  got  his  son 
transferred  to  the  army  of  the  Caucasus,  where 
the  intrepid  cavalry  officer  brilliantly  distinguished 
himself  in  Central  Asian  campaigns.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  with  Turkey  the  gallant  young  Skobeleff, 
decorated  with  the  St.  George's  Cross  for  valour,  and 
already  a  general,  was  sneered  at  by  the  young 

89 


I 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

dandies  of  the  headquarters  staff  as  the  victor  over 
the  dressing-gowns.  Very  soon,  however,  he  estab- 
lished a  reputation  which  has  become  almost  a  legend, 
like  that  of  Napoleon,  and  was  rapidly  promoted, 
until  in  his  reckless  assaults  on  Plevna  he  wasted  so 
many  lives  that  he  was  discredited  with  the  humane 
Alexander  II.,  and  again  lost  favour,  only  to  win 
undying  fame  by  his  celebrated  crossing  of  the 
Shipka  Pass.  His  subsequent  conduct  during  the 
campaign,  the  difficulty  with  which  he  was  restrained 
from  marching  into  Constantinople,  and  his  many 
eccentricities,  brought  him  once  more  into  disgrace. 
After  years  of  obscurity  he  was  given  command  of  an 
expedition  against  the  Turcomans,  who  had  been  a 
thorn  in  the  flesh  of  Russia  for  some  time,  won  the 
battle  of  Geok  Teppe,  took  Samarkand  and  covered 
himself  with  glory.  His  indiscreet  speech  at  a  Paris 
banquet,  in  which  he  gave  rein  to  his  hatred  of 
Germany,  caused  him  to  be  recalled  and  reprimanded, 
and  he  shortly  afterwards  died  in  Moscow  in  circum- 
stances which  had  best  be  ignored. 

Skobeleff  and  Souvoroff  were  undoubtedly  geniuses, 
but  in  the  case  of  both  it  was  their  democratic 
tendencies  which  endeared  them  to  the  people. 

In  other  countries  the  army  has  been  regarded  as 
the  main  instrument  of  the  reactionary  forces,  the 
school  of  despotic  government,  and  entirely  out  of 
sympathy  with  the  people.  This  is  scarcely  the 
case  in  Russia,  where  the  army  has  but  too  frequently 
been  the  revolutionary  force,  and  given  expression 


THE   ARMY 

to  popular  discontent.  One  of  the  best  proofs  of  the 
artificial  character  of  the  Nihilist  movement  is  that 
it  never  took  any  real  root  in  the  army. 

The  Russian  army  as  a  national  institution  dates, 
like  everything  else  in  that  country,  from  Peter  the . 
Great.  His  predecessors  surrounded  themselves  with 
guards  who  resembled  the  Turkish  janissaries,  and 
frequently  became  more  powerful  than  their  master. 
Whether  they  were  opritchniki  or  streltzi  (sharp- 
shooters) mattered  but  little.  Peter  the  Great  faced 
a  rebellion  of  this  latter  body  in  his  usual  strenuous 
manner.  Very  few  of  them  were  left  alive  after  he 
had  dealt  with  them  "  faithfully,"  and  those  who 
remained  were  disbanded. 

Of  course,  Peter  had  his  own  body-guard,  his  own 
pet  janissaries.  These  were  composed  originally  of 
the  Preobrajensky  Regiment,  which  commenced  as  a 
company  of  play-fellows  whom  Peter  as  a  boy  formed 
into  a  military  corps,  for  whom  he  obtained  foreign 
instructors,  whilst  he  was  living  obscurely  in  the 
village  of  that  name.  This  devoted  band  of  play- 
mates grew  with  Peter  in  stature  and  increased  in 
numbers,  until  they  became  a  formidable  force  and 
the  nucleus  of  the  Russian  guard. 

During  Peter's  reign  Russia  was  at  war  with 
Sweden  and  Turkey,  and  consequently  an  army  on 
Western  European  lines  became  necessary.  Those 
were  the  bad  days  of  standing  armies,  of  professional 
soldiers  who  fought  for  their  wages  and  lived  by  the 
sword.     These  soldiers,  who  made  warfare  their  trade. 


90 


91 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

were  enlisted,  and  had  but  little  patriotism  or  pride  of 
country,  they  hired  themselves  out  to  the  best  pay- 
master.    This  rule  applied  to  officers  and  men  alike, 
and  Peter  had  no  difficulty  in  attracting  to  his 
country  a  sufficient  number  of  military  instructors 
to  train  a  formidable  army.     As  for  the  rank  and  file, 
that  was  a  far  easier  problem.  The  gentry  were  called 
upon  to  contribute  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  their 
estates,  or  rather  the  number  of  their  serfs.     All  the 
undesirables  were  thus  got  rid  of,  and  an  army  was 
created,  not  essentially  different  from  the  armies  of 
all  other  European  countries,  and  consisting  to  a 
large  extent  of  the  dregs  of  the  population.     All  the 
vagabonds,  all  the  undesirables,  were  drafted  into 
the  military  forces  of  the  empire,  and  by  means  of 
an  iron  discipline  as  harsh  as  that  of  the  Roman 
legions,    and   the   introduction   of   the   un-Russian 
punishment  of  running  the  gauntlet,  these  black- 
guards were  speedily  Hcked  into  shape.     Peter  the 
Great  had  from  the  first  felt  the  necessity  of  having 
two  classes  of  troops,  the  one  to  fight  his  battles,  the 
other  to  protect  the  sovereign,  and  he  consequently 
designated  the  first  the  army  and  the  second  the 
guard.     This  is  the  reason  why  when  Russians  talk 
of  the  army  they  mean  the  hne. 

The  guards  grew  in  numbers  and  flourished 
exceedingly.  Many  a  palace  revolution  was  effected 
by  them,  and  both  Ehzabeth  and  Catherine  the  Great 
owed  their  throne  to  the  support  of  these  brave 
fellows.    As  the  cause  championed  by  the  guards  was 


THE   ARMY 

invariably  popular,  they  were  during  this  period  in 
great  favour. 

Whilst  Peter  the  Great  had  formed  his  army  on 
the  Western  European  model,  it  cannot  be  said  that 
he  copied  any  army  in  particular.  In  those  days 
France  was  regarded  as  the  premier  nation,  not  only 
in  the  arts  and  graces,  but  also  in  the  military  sense. 
Even  to-day  nearly  all  our  military  terms  have  a 
French  origin,  and  much  as  the  Germans  may  be 
disinclined  to  own  it,  their  own  military  expressions 
are  as  French  as  ours.  Hence  the  majority  of  the 
instructors  were  either  Frenchmen,  or  had  been 
trained  in  the  French,  then  the  only,  school.  But  as 
the  eighteenth  century  passed  its  meridian,  the 
phenomenal  successes  of  Frederick  the  Great,  who 
had  fought  more  or  less  successfully  for  seven  years 
against  what  amounted  to  a  coalition  of  Europe, 
attracted  attention  to  the  Prussian  army. 

The  Grand-Duke  Peter,  later  Peter  III.,  who  was 
heir  apparent  to  the  Russian  throne,  but  was  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  German,  conceived  an 
inordinate  admiration  for  his  kinsman,  the  King  of 
Prussia,  whom  he  openly  exalted  above  every  living 
monarch,  and  on  his  ascent  to  the  throne  he  proceeded 
to  introduce  the  Prussian  military  system.  It  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  during  the  reigns  of  Anne  and 
Elizabeth  the  Russian  soldier,  and  more  especially 
the  guards,  had  been  somewhat  pampered.  The 
good-natured  Elizabeth,  who  could  never  forget  her 
indebtedness   to   them,    and   moreover,   so   it   was 


92 


93 


•I 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

reported,  was  incapable  of  refusing  them  anything, 
had  allowed  discipline  to  grow  very  slack ;  officers 
used  to  appear  on  the  drill-ground  in  their  dressing- 
gowns,  and  the  privates  were  treated  with  a  con- 
sideration and  indulgence  that  used  to  make  the  gorge 
of  the  little  martinet  and  tyrant  Grand-Duke  rise  with 
indignation.  As  Peter  III.  he  determined  to  put  a 
stop  to  all  such  criminal  laxity.  He  aboHshed  the 
easy-fitting  and  comfortable  Russian  uniforms,  and 
introduced  the  Prussian  tight-buttoned  coats  and 
gaiters,  the  ridiculous  pig-tails,  and  more  particularly 
the  harsh,  inflexible  discipHne  which  dated  back  to 
the  stem  old  times  of  Frederick  William  I.,  who  ruled 
his  country  with  the  stick. 

This  very  unwise  procedure  of  Peter  III.  cost  him 
his  throne  and  his  life.  For  his  lack  of  human 
sympathy  and  his  pedantic  severity  had  turned  the 
guards  against  him,  whilst  he  had  failed  to  secure 
friends  elsewhere.  Catherine  II.,  who  was  placed  on 
the  throne  by  a  chque  of  guardsmen  with  the  hand- 
some Orloff  at  their  head,  had  as  Httle  reason  as 
Elizabeth  to  treat  her  guards  unkindly.  Her  son 
Paul  inherited  many  of  the  characteristics  of  his 
father,  and  formed  round  him  at  his  country  seat  of 
Gatchina  a  body  of  troops  called  the  Yoimg  Guard, 
on  which  he  vented  his  military  zeal.  So  far  from 
showing  any  distrust  of  these  rival  guards  of  her 
son's,  Catherine  indulgently  humoured  him  in  his 
drill-sergeant  proclivities,  in  which  he  was  aided  and 
abetted  by  a  sycophant,  Arakcheyev  by  name,  of 

94 


THE   ARMY 

whose  fiendish  cruelties  Russian  schoolboys  still  read 
with  horror.  This  inhuman  monster  so  cunningly 
concealed  his  real  character,  and  so  artfully  flattered 
the  humane  but  weak  Alexander,  the  son  of  Paul, 
that  he  succeeded  in  after  years  in  acquiring  his 
complete  confidence,  and  perpetrated  many  abomina- 
tions under  the  cloak  of  loyalty,  zeal  and  religion. 
Perhaps  it  was  largely  due  to  this  man's  insensate 
methods  that  the  army  grew  disaffected,  until  on 
the  accession  of  Nicholas  I.  a  mutiny  broke  out 
among  the  guards  which  threatened  to  upset  the 
throne,  and  had  for  its  object  the  introduction  of 
republican  government.  Nicholas  I.  rose  to  the 
occasion,  and  with  conspicuous  courage  and  an  iron 
hand  succeeded  in  quelling  the  rebellion.  He  perpe- 
trated the  iron  military  rule  of  his  father  and  brother, 
and  was  moreover  a  great  admirer  of  the  Prussian 
army.  During  his  reign  the  army  became  a  splendid 
machine,  and  it  was  generally  recognised  that  the 
Russian  troops  were  at  that  time  the  finest  in  the 
world. 

The  times  of  Nicholas  have  passed  into  a  proverb, 
and  a  soldier  of  Nicholas  was  regarded  as  the  highest 
expression  of  military  training  and  devotion.  The 
discipline  was  iron  and  the  obedience  of  the  soldier 
unreasoning.  A  story  is  told  of  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  and  the  King  of  Prussia  disputing  as  to 
which  was  the  best  soldier,  the  Russian  or  the 
Prussian.  It  was  decided  to  settle  the  dispute  by  a 
practical    test.    Nicholas    sent    for    one    of    his 


95 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

grenadiers  and  ordered  him  to  jump  out  of  window, 
which  the  soldier  immediately  did,  fortunately  with- 
out sustaining  any  injury.  Thereupon  the  King  of 
Prussia  sent  for  one  of  his  guardsmen  and  ordered 
him  also  to  jump  out  of  window.  The  Prussian 
soldier,  however,  instead  of  obeying  the  order 
instantly,  asked  the  king  what  the  object  of  such  a 
feat  might  be.  The  King  of  Prussia  was  delighted, 
and  claimed  that  his  soldier,  although  equally  ready 
to  obey,  had  displayed  an  intelligence  which  the 
Russian  had  not  betrayed. 

There  is  another  story  of  a  Russian  sentry  whom 
the  King  of  Prussia  discovered  marching  up  and  down 
in  front  of  a  plot  of  grass  in  the  gardens  of  one  of  the 
imperial  country  palaces.  He  asked  Nicholas  what 
the  sentry  was  guarding,  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
was  quite  unable  to  explain  the  reason  for  the  sentry's 
presence.  The  matter  was  inquired  into,  and 
laborious  research  at  last  discovered  the  following 
fact.  One  day  Catherine  the  Great  was  walking  in 
this  garden  in  the  early  summer  and  espied  a  solitary 
daisy  growing  in  the  grass.  She  was  so  enchanted 
with  its  appearance,  and  so  anxious  that  it  should  not 
be  wantonly  picked,  that  she  placed  a  sentry  there 
to  guard  it.  This  order  had  never  been  rescinded,  and 
so  there  was  still  a  sentry  at  the  spot. 

These  stories  are  told  to  illustrate  the  rigid  and 
souUess  routine  of  the  Russian  army  in  those  days. 
The  Crimean  War  brought  its  disillusionment  with 
it,  and  the  army,  like  everything   else,  had  to  be 

96 


THE   ARMY 

reformed.  With  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs 
corporal  punishment  was  abolished,  and  some  ten 
years  later,  after  the  object  lesson  of  the  war  of 
1870-72,  universal  mihtary  service  was  introduced. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  Russo-Turkish  War  many 
Russian  officers  had  serious  misgivings  regarding  the 
efficiency  of  the  new  troops,  and  it  was  felt  that  these 
would  be  found  to  be  less  trustworthy  than  the  old 
professional  soldiers.  The  result  proved  these  fears 
to  have  been  groundless.  The  splendid  valour  and 
discipline  of  the  Russian  had  not  been  impaired  by 
short  service  and  more  humane  treatment,  but  the 
intelligence  of  the  rank  and  file  and  the  efficiency 
of  the  higher  grades  had  on  the  other  hand  been 
greatly  increased. 

Under  Paul,  Alexander  I.  and  Nicholas  I.  the 
Russian  army  had  copied  that  of  Prussia.  While  the 
colour  of  the  infantry  uniform  had  remained  green, 
the  head-dress  and  the  general  cut  had  closely 
resembled  the  Prussian  uniform.  Alexander  11. 
changed  all  this.  He  abolished  the  heavy  casque  or 
helmet,  and  substituted  for  it  the  light  and  service- 
able French  kipi.  He  also  did  away  with  the  heavy 
stock  and  high  collar,  and  gave  his  troops  a  much 
more  comfortable  and  rational  dress.  It  was  also 
under  Alexander  II.  that  the  characteristic  Russian 
boots  were  allowed  to  be  worn  in  marching  order. 
On  parade,  however,  the  soldier  still  wore  trousers 
reaching  to  the  heel.  With  the  accession  of 
Alexander  III.  this  was  changed.     Alexander  III. 

97 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


ii 


was  a  national  emperor,  and  was  all  for  Russian 
institutions,  hating  foreign  ways.  He  devised  a 
Russian  uniform,  consisting  of  a  low-crowned  fur 
cap,  a  tunic  without  a  waist,  but  secured  by  a  belt, 
broad  knickerbockers,  called  charivari,  and  top- 
boots.  He  made  his  officers  wear  Cossack  swords, 
slung  over  the  shoulder,  and  having  the  appearance 
of  scimitars,  and  he  abohshed  all  fancy  uniforms. 
Before  his  time  the  cavalry  division  consisted  of 
four  regiments,  one  of  hussars,  one  of  lancers,  one 
of  dragoons  and  one  of  cuirassiers,  but  Alexander  III. 
turned  all  his  cavalry  into  mounted  infantry  and 
called  them  dragoons.  Of  course,  the  purely  Russian 
Cossack  uniforms  were  unaltered,  and  the  Cossacks 
retained  their  time-honoured  organisation. 

This  homely  innovation,  which  has  given  the 
army  a  most  neat  and  workmanhke  dress,  has  come 
to  stay,  and  to-day  the  army  is  typically  Russian, 
not  only  in  its  dress,  but  in  spirit  and  administration. 
The  Russian  officers  call  their  men  *'  children,"  and 
though  the  discipline  is  anything  but  lax,  the  terms 
on  which  they  are  with  them  are  affectionate  rather 
than  stem,  and  there  is  a  familiarity  of  intercourse 
which,   in  this  instance   at  least,   does  not  breed 

contempt. 

To  General  Skobeleff  is  due  the  great  change  in  the 
attitude  of  the  officers  to  their  men.  He  taught  the 
importance  of  caring  for  the  comfort  and  welfare 
of  the  private  soldier,  and  the  necessity  of  treating 
him  as  a  human  being  and  keeping  up  his  spirits,  and 


98 


THE   ARMY 


cheering  him  on  the  march  and  in  battle.  Whilst  the 
Prussian  officer  is  credibly  reported  to  flog  his  men 
into  action,  a  stick  in  one  hand  and  a  revolver  in 
the  other,  and  terrorises  them  on  all  occasions,  never 
addressing  them  otherwise  than  in  tones  calculated 
to  inspire  fear,  the  Russian  officer  is  amiable, 
colloquial  and  humorous.  He  tries  to  inspire  his  men 
by  his  example,  they  form  part  of  his  family,  and 
look  to  him  as  their  friend  and  counsellor.  There  is 
thus  a  spirit  of  mutual  trust  and  affection  in  the 
Russian  army  which  is  most  pleasant  to  see.  The 
officers,  of  course,  are  human,  they  occasionally 
lose  their  temper,  they  can  be  very  severe,  but 
all  this  is  on  the  family  plane.  It  is  as  though 
a  father  was  rebuking  his  children.  The  men 
understand  their  officers,  and  the  officers  under- 
stand and,  there  is  no  exaggeration  in  saying,  love 
their  men. 

While  this  spirit  of  mutual  affection  is  essentially 
Russian,  and  a  trait  in  the  national  character,  for 
the  Russian  is  a  most  lovable  person  in  whatever 
sphere  of  hfe  he  may  be,  its  development  into  a 
system  in  the  army  is,  as  has  been  said,  largely  due 
to  Skobeleff,  who  actually  ruined  himself  to  provide 
comforts  for  his  troops. 

Skobeleff  created  a  school,  and  when  he  died  there 
were  many  of  his  disciples  left  to  take  up  his  mantle. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  somewhat 
mystical  Dragomiroff,  who  developed  theories  of 
his  own,  and  was  a  believer,  even  in  the  days  of 


99 


H 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA" 

magazine  rifles  and  maxim  guns,  in  the  bayonet. 
He  endeavoured  to  adapt  to  modem  times  the 
teachings  of  Souvoroff,  and  will  always  stand  out  as 
a  typically  national  general,  whose  great  ideas  did 
much  to  reform  the  army.  Another  disciple  of 
Skobeleif's,  and  a  man  whom  he  had  trained,  was 
Kouropatkin,  the  general  who  commanded  in  the 
Japanese  War.  Future  historians  will  no  doubt  do 
justice  to  this  general's  great  achievements.  This 
is  not  the  place,  nor  is  the  present  the  time  to  dwell 
upon  that  war.  But  whatever  opinions  may  be  held 
it  must  be  admitted  that  the  handling  of  the  Trans- 
Siberian  Railway  surpassed  even  the  most  optimistic 
expectations. 

The  Russian  officer  has  always  been  a  brave  and 
gallant  gentleman,  splendid  in  action,  chivalrous  to 
his  enemies,  and  genial  to  his  men.  Unfortunately 
his  geniality  has  been  a  little  too  pronounced. 
A  jolly  companion,  the  prince  of  good  fellows,  the 
Russian  has  in  the  past  not  always  taken  his  pro- 
fession as  seriously  as  could  be  wished.  In  this 
respect  he  was  not  singular.  It  is  not  so  many 
centuries  ago  that  our  own  officers  took  their  duties 
rather  lightly,  and  regarded  the  military  profession 
as  a  career  of  pleasure.  There  was  a  time  when 
officers  were  looked  upon  by  the  straight-laced  and 
sober-minded  as  sons  of  perdition.  That  time  is 
passed.  Nobody  takes  his  profession  more  seriously 
to-day  than  the  British  officer,  and  it  may  be 
confidently  asserted  that  a  similar  change  has  in 

ICO 


THE   ARMY 

recent  years  come  over  the  Russian  officer  as  well. 
The  splendid  achievements  of  the  Russian  army 
in  the  present  war  prove  more  eloquently  than 
any  words  of  mine  can  do  that  it  is  composed  of 
heroes. 


lOI 


CHAPTER   VIII 


TOWN   LIFE 


People  who  write  and  talk  about  Russia  have  got 
into  the  habit  of  dwelling  upon  what  they  call  "  the 
strain  of  plaintive  melancholy  *'  which  underlies  all 
Russian  literature  and  art,  and  is  the  key-note  of 
Russian  Hfe.  This  notion  is  based  upon  an  absolute 
misconception  of  the  Russian  character.  Some 
centuries  ago  the  French  chronicler,  Froissart,  wrote 
that  the  Enghsh  took  their  pleasures  sadly,  and  ever 
§ince  it  has  been  the  fashion  to  assume  that  we 
English  were  all  of  us  melancholy  dogs.  Of  course, 
the  reverse  is  true.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  are  con- 
stitutionally just  as  joyous,  in  our  own  fashion,  as 
the  French  for  instance.  In  the  same  way  it  must  be 
maintained  that  the  Russian  nation  is  happy  and 
cheerful  in  disposition,  and  no  more  gloomy  than  any 
other,  certainly  much  less  addicted  to  melancholy 
than  the  Germans.  The  peasants  love  bright  colours, 
more  especially  red,  and  are  always  singing  when  in 
groups. 

Town  hfe  is  certainly  the  reverse  of  melancholy. 
The  Russians  love  the  open  air,  in  winter  as  well  as 
in  summer,  and  on  popular  holidays  there  is  always 

I02 


\ 


TOWN   LIFE 

a  "  goullianye  '\  somewhere,  which  means  Uterally 
a  promenade  and  joUification.    These  "  gouUianyes  " 
must  be  witnessed  to  be  understood.    In  the  majority 
of  cases  they  have  for  the  background  a  sort  of  fair- 
booths  run  up  temporarily,  in  which  there  are  per- 
formances, principally  theatrical.     Then  there  are 
toboggan  slides,  swings,  bands  and  similar  attractions. 
These  booths  and  places  of  popular  entertainment  are 
generally  erected  along  the  side  of  a  thoroughfare. 
In  front  of  the  booths  the  common  people  throng  in 
their  multitudes,  singing  songs  and  cracking  jokes, 
but    without    rowdyism.      In    the    thoroughfare, 
especiaUy  in   the   afternoon,   the  wealthier  classes 
drive  up  and  down,  the  womenkind  more  particularly 

in  all  their  best  finery. 

At  Christmas,  during  the  carnival  week,  called  the 
butter -week,  and  in  Easter -week,  there  is  a 
"  gouUianye  "  of  this  kind  in  every  Russian  town. 
During  the  summer  evenings  the  principal  towns 
present  a  most  animated  and  cheerful  picture.  In 
the  outskirts  there  is  always  much  open-air  dancing 
on  these  summer  evenings,  and  generally  wherever 
a  number  of  Russians  are  gathered  together  there  is 
an  infectious  atmosphere  of  genial  gaiety  which 
everybody  seems  to  breathe  and  inhale.  On  hohdays 
the  Russian  people  are  or,  more  properly  speaking, 
were,  addicted  to  drink,  and  used  to  get  extraordin- 
arily'*' full,"  but  this  intoxication  very  rarely  took 
an  offensive  form.  Drunken  brawls,  in  my  time  at 
least,  were  of  the  rarest  occurrence.    The  Latin  poet 


103 


' 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

wisely  said  that  a  man's  character  is  to  be  judged 
by  his  eyes,  his  jokes,  and  his  cups.  It  is  when  a 
man  is  in  his  cups  that  his  true  nature  comes  out, 
and  in  Russia  vodka  only  brings  out  into  more 
conspicuous  evidence  the  inherent  amiabihty  of  the 
national  character.  AU  the  Russians  are  brothers, 
and  the  worst  they  do  when  they  get  drunk  is  to 
embrace  and  kiss  each  other.  A  more  objectionable 
habit  is  the  constant  playing  of  the  accordion. 

Russia,  before  the  institution  of  the  Duma,  which 
has  served  to  centralise  town  hfe,  formerly  possessed 
many  capitals,  the  principal  of  which  were  :    St. 
Petersburg,  the  seat  of  government ;    Moscow,  the 
former  capital,  and  still  the  centre  of  Russian  life 
and  trade  ;   Kieff,  the  cradle  of  the  Russian  Empire, 
a  town  of  churches,  monasteries  and  relics  ;    and 
Odessa,  the  port  of  the  Black  Sea,  the  city  of  palaces, 
the  home  of  the  Greek  merchant  princes  who  formerly 
at  least  controUed  the  grain  trade.    Of  course,  every 
province,  or  "government,"  has  its  chief  city,' where 
are  reproduced  the  principal  features  of  the  capital, 
of  these  there  are  a  great  number  of  varying  im- 
portance.    Saratoff,  for  instance,  is  a  much  finer 
city  than  say  Riasan,  Kharkoff  a  busier  place  than 
Voronej. 

St.  Petersburg,  now  Petrograd,  the  most  recent  of 
Russia's  three  capitals,  was  built  on  a  swamp  by 
Peter  the  Great,  who  desired,  as  he  termed  it,  to 
have  a  window  from  which  Russia  could  look  out 
into  Europe.     Unfortunately  this  window,  like  all 

104 


TOWN    LIFE 

the  windows  in  that  country,  is  closed  during  winter. 
To  give  the  town  a  non-Russian  character  Peter 
called  it  after  his  patron  saint,  but  gave  it  a  German 
name.  This  had  to  be  changed  when  the  war  with 
Germany  broke  out,  and  so  it  is  now  called  Petro- 
grad, "grad"  being  the  old  Russian  name  for  town, 
and  having  a  signification  very  similar  to  the  English 
"  Chester,"  meaning  a  strong  or  defended  place. 

Being  built  on  European  lines,  St.  Petersburg 
received  very  few  of  the  characteristics  of  a  typical 
Russian  defensive  city.  It  had  no  kremlin.  The 
word  "  kremlin  "  is  derived  from  "  krenel,  a  flint," 
and  means  a  fort,  it  consists  of  a  strong  wall,  with 
protected  gates  and  towers. 

Petrograd,  like  the  majority  of  towns  created  by 
one  directing  spirit,  is  built  in  lines,  or  avenues,  the 
central  avenue  being  the  famous  Nevsky  Prospect, 
which  leads  from  the  Neva  to  eternity,  represented 
by  the  monastery  of  St.  Alexander  Nevsky,  several 
miles  out  of  town.  The  next  principal  street  is  at 
right  angles  with  the  Nevsky,  and  is  called  the 
Morskaya,  or  maritime  street ;  it  is  as  short  as  the 
other  is  long,  but  contains  many  fine  shops  and 
buildings.  Petrograd  is  intercepted  by  a  number 
of  canals  which  drain  the  swamps  on  which  it  is 
built.  The  Kazansky  Cathedral  is  the  finest  church 
in  the  Nevsky  Prospect,  in  the  centre  of  which 
endless  avenue  of  shops  and  palaces  there  is  the 
Gostinny  Dvor,  or  Strangers'  Court,  a  sort  of  bazaar, 
a  veritable  colony  of  shops.    In  addition  to  this  town 


i 


105 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

on  the  mainland  with  its  fine  straight  streets,  of 
which  there  are  very  many,  there  are  the  islands, 
the  Vassily  Ostrov  and  the  Stone  or  Kamenny 
Ostrov,  where  there  are  many  new  fine  residential 
quarters,  and  beyond  these  there  are  the  other 
islands,  where  are  cafe  chantants  and  restaurants, 
and  where  the  gilded  youth  of  Russia  spend  their  long 
evenings,  or  rather  nights,  and  listen  to  the  singing 
of  the  gipsies. 

Owing  to  its  foggy  climate  Petrograd  is  not  a 
cheerful  place.  In  spite  of  its  fine  streets  it  has  an 
air  of  heaviness,  and  produces  a  feeling  of  depression 
on  the  visitor.  The  fortress  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
which  frowns  gloomily  over  the  Neva,  seems  to 
impart  its  severity  to  the  whole  town,  and  yet  life 
is  gay  and  bright.  There  is  a  park  near  the  palace, 
theatres  handsomely  built  by  the  State,  restaurants, 
and  everything  that  is  supposed  to  impart  brightness 
and  gaiety. 

Petrograd  is  the  home  of  the  official  classes  and  the 
Court.  Here  are  the  big  government  departments, 
the  barracks  of  the  various  regiments  of  guards, 
the  palaces  of  the  great  nobles,  like  the  Stroganoffs 
and  the  Youssoupoffs,  the  Duma,  the  University,  the 
Academies  of  Science  and  of  Arts,  the  Museums, 
the  famous  Hermitage,  a  sort  of  annex  of  the 
Imperial  Winter  Palace,  with  its  beautiful  pictures 
and  objects  of  art  collected  chiefly  by  Catherine  the 
Great,  and  here  are  the  palaces  of  the  Grand-Dukes. 
Petrograd   has   a   large   foreign   colony,   composed 

1 06 


TOWN   LIFE 

principally  of  Germans  and  EngUsh,  for  the  old 
English  factory  belonging  to  the  Russia  Company  is 
here,  and  the  outskirts  are  full  of  factories. 

Being  the  centre  of  official  Hfe,  Petrograd  is 
inhabited  largely  by  officials  and  guardsmen,  and  it 
has  a  large  male  population,  more  men  than  women, 
in  fact.  Consequently  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of 
a  camp,  hfe  is  very  briUiant,  very  dissipated,  but 
the  family  features  are  not  predominant. 

.Everybody  seems  to  be  in  the  streets,  there  is  a 
constant  stream  of  officers  and  elegantly-dressed 
people  in  the  Nevsky  all  day  long.  In  the  morning 
everybody  goes  shopping,  or  hurries  from  one  place 
of  business  to  another.  In  the  afternoon  everybody 
turns  out,  those  who  have  carriages  or  sledges  (in 
the  winter)  drive  along  the  Nevsky  and  Morskaya 
to  take  the  air  and  to  exchange  greetings  with  their 
friendis,  whilst  the  foot  pavement  is  crowded  with 
interested  pedestrians,  who  are  constantly  stopping 
and  chatting  as  they  meet  somebody  they  know. 
The  horses  are  splendid,  and  are  driven  at  a  rate 
which  is  quite  alarming.  To-day  there  are  also 
many  fine  motor  cars  to  be  seen.  The  Emperor  and 
Empress  and  the  Grand-Dukes,  and  all  the  distin- 
guished people  in  residence  generally  take  the  air 
in  the  afternoon,  and  the  scene  is  one  not  merely 
of  animation,  but  of  splendour.  Generally  dinner  is 
earlier  than  in  England,  and  after  dinner  come  the 
theatres. 

Although    evening   dress  is   not   worn    quite   so 

107 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

generaUy  as  in  London,  the  brilliant  uniforms 
always  impart  a  festive  air  to  the  theatres,  and  the 
opera  on  gala  nights  is  a  sight  to  see.  After  the 
theatre  there  is  supper  at  one  of  the  innumerable 
caji  chantants,  and  people  seldom  get  to  bed  before 
three.  In  the  home  card -parties  are  frequent, 
Russians  having  a  perfect  mania  for  cards,  but  the 
usual  evening  reception  does  not  entail  much 
expense.  Tea  is  the  usual  beverage,  and  conversation, 
mostly  brilliant,  the  principal  entertainment. 

Russians  are  famous  for  their  hospitahty,  and 
many  of  the  wealthy  merchants  keep  open  house  on 
Sundays  and  hoHdays.  All  day  long  the  table  in 
the  dining-room  is  laid,  and  the  samovar,  or  tea-urn, 
is  kept  boihng,  supplemented  by  liqueurs  and  hots 
d'osuvre  (zakousska)  on  the  sideboard,  only  to  be 
interrupted  by  the  regular  meals,  to  which  everybody 
who  happens  to  be  calling  is  as  a  matter  of  course 
invited.  Russians  are  also  very  fond  of  dancing, 
and  often  improvise  dances  at  their  houses ;  regular 
balls  are,  of  course,  also  given. 

The  well-to-do  Russian's  house  lends  itself 
particularly  well  to  entertainment.  Most  people 
live  in  fiats,  but  even  among  the  very  wealthy,  who 
inhabit  an  entire  house  by  themselves,  the  reception 
rooms  are  all  on  one  floor,  and  are  generally  arranged 
in  the  following  order :  There  is  first  the  salon,  or 
reception  room ;  this  is  usuaUy  a  large  piece  with 
parquet  floor,  many  chairs,  but  Httle  furniture  of  the 
comfortable   order.     Here   dances  are  given,   and 

1 08 


TOWN    LIFE 

people  are  kept  waiting,  having  previously  left  their 
overcoats  and  overshoes  in  the  vestibule.  The 
salon  is  frequently  also  the  dining-room,  it  is  followed 
by  a  series  of  drawing-rooms,  the  most  intimate  of 
which  being  the  last.  Here  the  hostess  receives  the 
welcome  guests.  The  intermediate  rooms  are 
frequently  set  out  with  card  tables.  Everybody 
smokes  cigarettes  all  day  long  and  everywhere. 
There  is  no  formaHty,  no  stiffness,  no  awkward 
restraint.  Everybody  says  whatever  comes  into 
his  head,  conversation  is  frequently  frank,  no  subject 
is  barred,  no  person  sacred,  with  the  exception  always 
of  the  Emperor,  who  is  referred  to  as  Gosoudar,  the 
sovereign,  and  of  whom  it  is  considered  bad  form  to 
speak  otherwise  than  respectfully.  I  have  been  very 
much  struck  by  this,  even  when  with  people  whose 
political  opinions  were  distinctly  unorthodox. 

I  have  found  that  the  person  of  the  Emperor 
was  never  the  subject  of  ribaldry.  Everything  under 
the  sun  could  be  and  was  laughed  at,  but  the 
Emperor  was  not  discussed.  It  is  a  sure  sign  of 
ill-breeding  to  talk  disrespectfully  of  the  Emperor. 

From  the  above  brief  sketch  it  will  be  seen  that 
Russian  society  is  particularly  delightful.  The 
majority  of  Russians  are  well  read,  they  all  have 
ideas,  and  as  there  is  but  little  scope  for  the  expression 
of  their  ideas  in  the  press  or  on  the  platform,  these  are 
aired  in  the  drawing-room,  and  generally  with  a 
freedom  which  will  surprise  the  stranger.  The 
Russian  loves  conversation,  and  Russians  will  sit 


109 


.1. 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

for  hours  smoking  cigarettes  and  drinking  tea  and 
talking.  I  have  known  ladies  to  take  a  leading  part 
in  such  conversations,  which  are  always  interesting, 
and  often  instructive  and  witty. 

A  great  feature  of  Russian  town  life  is  the  clubs. 
In  England  everybody  belongs  to  a  club,  in  Russia 
every  town  of  any  importance  has  at  least  two  clubs, 
the  Nobles'  Club  and  the  Merchants'  Club.  These 
clubs  are  the  centres  of  the  social  life  of  the  two  classes 
of  civic  society.  The  balls,  concerts,  lectures  and 
similar  "  functions  "  are  all  held  at  one  or  other  of 
these  clubs,  which  on  ordinary  days  are  much  given 
to  card  playing. 

While   Petrograd   is   the   capital   and   centre   of 
Russian  official  life,  the  heart  of  Russia  may  be  said 
to  pulsate  in  Moscow.     This  was  certainly  the  case 
before  the  days  of    the  Duma.     At    present    the 
Duma  attracts  to  the  capital  the  best  intellect  of  the 
country,  but  Moscow  is  still  the  home,  as  it  always 
has  been,  of  the  old  aristocracy.     Here  they  have 
their  delightful  straggling  houses,  all  on  one  floor, 
with  separate  wings  for  the  kitchen  and  the  servants. 
Even  in  Moscow,  however,  the  heavy  hand  of  modem 
improvement  has  made  itself  felt,  and  while  her 
streets  are  as  badly  paved  with  cobble  stones  as  ever, 
pretentious  flats  are  springing  up  on  every  side. 
There  are  arcades,  Messrs.  Muir  and  Merrilies  have 
started  a  sort  of  stores,  hke  Whiteley's  or  Harrod's, 
there  are  electric  trams  and  monster  hotels. 
Moscow    is    a    typical    Russian    town,     and     is 

no 


TOWN    LIFE 

consequently  worthy  of  description.  It  differs  from 
Petrograd  more  particularly  by  its  plan.  Moscow 
is  a  circular  town.  The  centre  is  the  Kremlin,  which 
stands  on  a  hill  and  contains  the  Imperial  Palace, 
and  the  old  churches.  Outside  the  Kremlin  walls  is  the 
Gostinny  Dvor,  or  Guests'  Court,  which  consists  of 
rows  of  bazaars.  Between  these  and  the  Kremlin 
is  a  wide  space  where  the  public  meetings  used  to 
be  held,  and  where  in  olden  times  the  tyrant  Tzars 
used  to  execute  their  subjects,  here  is  the  dazzling 
church  of  Basil  the  Blessed.  Round  the  Kremlin 
wall  is  the  old  ditch,  which  has  been  converted  into 
a  public  park.  The  next  circle  is  described  by  the 
boulevards.  These  are  promenades  planted  with 
trees,  where  the  citizens  take  the  air  in  the  afternoon 
and  evening  and  meet  their  friends.  At  some  distance 
from  these  runs  the  Sadovaya,  or  Garden  Street, 
which  forms  an  outer  circle.  Moscow  has  been 
described  as  a  city  of  churches  and  ponds,  and  if  we 
look  down  upon  the  town  from  the  neighbouring 
Sparrow  Hills,  from  which  Napoleon  first  saw  it,  we 
shall  be  dazzled  by  the  reflection  of  the  sun  from 
its  numerous  ponds  and  lakes  and  the  gilt  cupolas  of 
its  many  Byzantine  churches. 

Nearly  all  the  provincial  towns  of  Russia  are  more 
or  less  replicas  of  Moscow.  They  may  be  briefly 
described  as  consisting  of  a  kremlin,  a  centre,  a 
main  street,  or  sector,  the  diameter  of  the  circle,  and 
of  a  number  of  circular  streets  bisected  at  various 
points. 

Ill 


I 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

Every    Russian    town    of    any   importance   has, 
moreover,  in  addition  to  these  features,  a  number  of 
fine  pubhc  buildings,  built  on  a  classical  plan  specially 
designed  by  the  Emperor  Alexander  I.  himself,  and 
repeated    faithfully    on    a    suitable    scale.      These 
buildings  include  a  State  theatre.    The  Russian  State 
theatre  is  a  Greek  temple  to  the  muses,  it  is  com- 
fortable and  spacious,   and  it  has  a  foyer.     The 
foyer   is   the   principal   feature   of   every    Russian 
theatre,  and  here  the  entire  audience  promenades  up 
and  down  between  the  acts,  and  exchanges  salutations 
and  greetings.    A  theatre  without  a  foyer  in  which 
people  could  meet  each  other  would  not  appeal  to 
the  sociable  Russian  character.    The  local  dignitaries 
benevolently  take  part  in  this  regular  parade,  and 
receive  with  becoming  graciousness  the  salutations 
of  their  equals,  and  the  more  distant  and  respectful 
greetings   of   their   inferiors.     On   these   occasions 
what  is  striking  to  the  foreign  observer  is  the  total 
absence  of  snobbishness,  everybody  maintains  his 
self-respect,  there  is  no  attempt  to  take  social  advan- 
tage of  the  accessibihty  of  the  great  ones  of  the  earth, 
who  on  their  part  exhibit  no  haughtiness  or  desire 
to   snub   the   less    distinguished   members   of   the 
provincial  microcosm.     There  is  an  easy,   simple, 
unaffected  politeness  which  is  mutual  and  smooths 
the  path  of  hfe. 

.  An  interesting  feature  of  town  Hfe  is  the  villegiatura, 
the  summer  exodus  mto  rural  suburbs.  Russia  is 
a  land  of  extremes,  of  extreme  cold  in  the  winter 


iia 


TOWN   LIFE 

and  great  heat  in  the  summer,  and  during  the  heal 
of  summer  everybody,  who  possibly  can,  takes  a 
"  datchia."  A  datchia  is  a  villa,  it  is  preferably 
situated  in  a  forest,  it  is  built  of  wood,  is  usually  the 
property  of  the  peasants  of  some  neighbouring  village, 
but  it  is  always  surrounded  by  verandahs  on  which 
the  family  takes  its  meals.  During  the  day  the  males 
who  inhabit  the  datchias  are  attending  to  their 
business  in  town,  the  ladies  spend  the  afternoons 
taking  a  siesta.  It  is  not  until  the  evening  that 
datchia  hfe  begins  to  throb.  There  is  usually  a 
band  and  an  open-air  ball,  and  here  the  young  men 
and  maidens  dance  and  flirt  in  the  cool,  delightfully 
aromatic,  pine  forests  in  which  Russia  abounds.  The 
life  of  the  datchia  is  one  of  promiscuity  and  geniahty, 
there  is  no  formality,  no  ceremony,  no  stupid 
introductions,  no  foolishness  about  dress.  Young 
ladies  masquerade  as  peasant  girls,  wear  the 
picturesque  national  costume,  and  go  about  without 
the  fearful  and  wonderful  headgear  which  makes 
the  woman  of  Western  Europe  so  unapproachable, 
and  causes  so  much  domestic  unhappiness. 


a 


113 


CHAPTER    IX 

SIBERIA 

There  is  a  dread  sound  about  the  word  Siberia.  To 
the  man  in  the  street  that  word  conjures  up  untold 
hardships  and  cruelties,  quicksilver  mines,  the  knout, 
the  flogging  to  death  of  unfortunate  victims,  and 
similar  horrors.  In  1882  the  late  Rev.  Henry  Lansdell 
published  a  very  interesting  and  copiously  illustrated 
work  in  two  volumes  entitled  Through  Siberia,  in 
which  many  of  these  popular  errors  were  dispelled. 

Siberia  was  origmally  an  unknown  country.  In  a 
pamphlet  prepared  by  the  Russian  Government  for 
the  information  of  peasant  emigrants,  the  following 
popular  account  of  the  early  history  of  Siberia  is 
given  : — 

"  Five  hundred  years  ago  few  people  in  Russia 
knew  anything  about  Siberia.  They  knew  that 
beyond  the  Ural  Mountains  there  was  a  strange  land 
inhabited  by  peculiar  people,  who  had  a  language  of 
their  own,  and  possessed  great  wealth  of  gold  and 
expensive  skins  of  wild  animals.  Gradually  the 
Russians  began  to  pick  up  some  knowledge  about 
Siberia.  The  first  to  find  their  way  across  the  Urals 
were  Novgorod  merchants,  who  began  by  trading 
with  the  natives  and  later  fought  them.    .    .    .    The 

114 


I 


SIBERIA 

natives,  however,  protected  their  possessions  and 
defended  themselves  as  best  they  could.  The 
Tartars  treated  the  natives  badly,  and  invaded 
their  country  in  hordes,  driving  the  natives  away 
into  colder  cHmes  and  seizing  the  best  territory. 
During  this  period  a  large  portion  of  the  population 
was  killed  and  Siberia  became  Tartar.  .  .  .  Four 
hundred  years  ago  the  Tartar  domination  of  Russia 
came  to  an  end,  and  the  Russians  gradually  drove 
tlie  Tartars  away.  They  began  by  refusing  to  pay 
them  tribute,  and  later,  in  the  course  of  a  century, 
they  proceeded  to  take  possession  of  Tartary.  Under 
Ivan  the  Terrible  they  conquered  the  kingdoms  of 
Kazan  and  Astrakhan.  Then  came  the  turn  of 
Siberia  also." 

Siberia  was  really  conquered  for  Russia  by  a 
Cossack  freebooter  and  outlaw,  Yermak,  who  had 
fled  from  the  wrath  of  the  Tzar,  and  the  death  to 
which  he  had  been  condemned,  into  Siberia,  which  he 
virtually  conquered  with  his  band  of  robbers.  The 
Tzar,  Ivan  the  Terrible,  was  so  pleased  with  Yermak's 
achievement,  that  he  gave  him  a  full  pardon  and 
loaded  him  with  honours.  Subsequently  Yermak 
was  trapped  and  killed  by  the  Tartars,  but  the 
conquest  thus  singularly  begun  was  speedily  followed 
up,  and  gradually  Russian  adventurers  subdued  the 
whole  territory. 

Siberia  soon  became  a  sort  of  Botany  Bay.  Many 
Russians  emigrated  and  settled  there  of  their  own 
free  will,  others  were  sent  there  for  punishment.     A 

115 


i<i 


ll' 


. 


I 


:■      I 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

hundred  years  after  Yermak's  death  there  were 
already  seventy  thousand  Russians  in  the  new 
territory,  besides  a  large  number  of  refugees  of  whom 
no  record  could  be  kept.  In  the  eighteenth  century 
the  land  was  overrun  with  refugee  serfs,  miners, 
factory  hands,  and  deserters  from  the  army.  These 
people  founded  a  hardy  and  independent  race,  and 
lived  in  a  state  resembling  the  ideal  anarchy  or 
lawlessness  imagined  by  Proudhon  and,  what  are 
to-day  called,  anarchists.  As  time  went  on  these 
colonists  grew  uneasy  lest  the  long  arm  of  the  law 
should  reach  them,  and  they  made  overtures  to 
China ;  but  the  Chinese  would  have  nothing  to  say 
to  them,  and  so  they  finally  petitioned  the  Empress 
Catherine  II.  of  Russia  to  take  them  under  her  pro- 
tection, voluntarily  offering  to  pay  taxes  and  con- 
tribute to  the  national  revenue.  But  even  after 
their  position  had  been  thus  regularised  they  enjoyed 
a  measure  of  freedom  and  independence  which  was 
denied  to  their  Russian  compatriots  at  home,  who 
suffered  under  the  yoke  of  serfdom.  Of  course  there 
were  also  large  numbers  of  convicts  who  were 
condemned  to  work  in  the  mines,  and  others  who  were 
sentenced  to  exile.  Catherine  II.  permitted  the 
landed  gentry  to  exile  their  undesirable  serfs  to 
Siberia  ;  later,  in  1805,  a  number  of  dissenters  were 
also  exiled  there. 

Mr.  Lansdell  in  the  book  I  have  referred  to  says : 
"There  exists  a  great  deal  of  misapprehension  respect- 
ing the  number,  misery,  and  degradation  of  Russian 

ii6 


SIBERIA 

political  prisoners.  The  severest  case  of  punishment 
of  a  political  prisoner  I  met  with  was  that  of,  I  think, 
a  Nihilist,  at  Kara,  who  had  daily  to  go  to  work  in 
the  gold  mines  ;  but  on  returning  he  had  a  room  to 
himself,  some  of  his  own  furniture,  fittings  and  books, 
one  of  which  was  on  political  economy.  His  wife  lived 
in  the  neighbourhood,  and  could  see  him  lawfully 
and  bring  him  food  at  frequent  intervals ;  and  it  was 
not  difficult  for  her  to  see  him  unlawfully,  for  just 
in  front  of  his  window  passed  the  public  road,  where 
she  could  stand  and  talk  to  him  with  ease.  I  met 
in  Siberia  one  political  prisoner  whose  case  was  more 
surprising,  perhaps,  than  any  I  have  mentioned.  It 
was  that  of  a  man  who  had  been  concerned  in  one  of 
the  attempts  on  the  life  of  the  late  Emperor 
(Alexander  II.).  He  was  sentenced  to  the  mines, 
and  no  doubt  popular  imagination  pictured  him 
chained  and  tormented  to  within  an  inch  of  his  life, 
whereas  I  found  him  confined  indeed,  but  only  to  the 
neighbourhood,  and  dressed,  if  I  remember  rightly, 
in  a  tweed  suit,  looking  highly  presentable,  and 
engaged  in  a  way  that  I  purposely  avoid  naming,  but 
which  did  not  necessitate  the  soiling  of  his  fingers." 

In  another  place  Mr.  Lansdell  says :  "  The 
Russians  introduce  or  allow  the  introduction  into 
their  prisons  of  an  ameliorating  influence,  in  the  form 
of  local  committees,  for  furthering  the  temporal 
welfare  of  the  prisoners.  '  You  see,'  said  to  me 
the  president  of  one  of  these  committees,  *  we  have 
two  elements  in  the  government  of  our  prisoners. 

117 


» 


<t 


I 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

The  police  strive  for  the  letter  of  the  liw,  whilst  we 
strive  for  kindness  to  the  prisoner/  Thus  justice 
and  mercy  go  hand  in  hand,  and  when  they  happen 
to  fall  out,  I  fancy  that  in  Siberia,  after  their  easy- 
going fasliion,  mercy  not  unfrequently  wins  the 
day/' 

While  Mr.  Lansdell  was  an  optimist,  Mr.  George 
Kennan,  an  American  engineer,  who  published,  ten 
years  later,  his  famous  book  on  Siberia  and  the  Exile 
System,  was  a  pessimist.  Mr.  Harry  de  Windt,  on 
the  other  hand,  who  wrote  a  counterblast  to  Mr. 
Kennan,  has  been  accused  of  being  too  obviously 
an  apologist.  The  truth  probably  lies  somewhere 
between  these  extremes,  but  it  is  at  least  fair  to  assume 
that  prison  life  in  Siberia  was  not  intended  to  be  a 
rest  cure,  and  that  the  political  prisoners,  quite 
justifiably  in  my  opinion,  seeing  that  they  were  at 
war  with  the  Government,  painted  their  experiences 
as  darkly  as  they  could.  One  of  the  latter,  however, 
has  made  an  interesting  confession.  In  his  book  on 
Russian  and  FrefKh  Prisons,  Prince  Krapotkin,  who 
had  experience  of  both,  but  whose  scientific  accuracy 
was  not  to  be  influenced  by  political  bias,  frankly 
admits  that  solitary  confinement  in  a  French  prison 
was  a  far  more  horrible  punishment  than  incarcera- 
tion in  Russia. 

As  a  geographical  expression,  Siberia  is  a  term 
applied  to  a  region  embracing  a  variety  of  climates. 
To  the  north,  near  the  Arctic  Ocean,  the  country  is 
inhospitable,  and  consists  of  a  sort  of  frozen  bog, 

ii8 


SIBERIA 

called  tundra,  which  never  thaws,  in  the  short 
summer  the  sun  only  melts  the  surface.  Here  life 
is  scarcely  possible,  and  in  the  old  days  the  escaped 
criminals  who  found  their  way  there  were  deserving 
of  the  greatest  commiseration.  The  central  region 
is  a  fertile  plain  very  similar  to  Canada,  and  the 
south  is  almost  tropical. 

To-day  exile  to  Siberia  has  been  abolished.  Instead 
thereof  emigration  into  this  Canada  of  the  Russian 
Empire  is  actively  encouraged  by  the  State,  who 
grants  land  to  settlers  and  publishes  pamphlets  to 
attract  the  peasant  from  thickly-populated  districts 
to  come  and  colonise  it. 

The  land  is  phenomenally  fertile,  and  with  good 
management  might  be  converted  into  the  granary  of 
Europe :  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway  has  made  it 
accessible  to  the  world,  numerous  branch  lines  are 
being  constructed  and  in  contemplation.  For  all 
that  the  settlers  are  not  always  satisfied.  In  this 
respect  also  the  resemblance  to  Canada  is  maintained. 
Many  a  colonist  who  has  settled  in  Siberia  abandons 
the  country  after  finding  the  work  too  hard,  hence 
only  the  men  of  grit  and  perseverance  remain,  and 
consequently  it  may  be  truthfully  said  that  the 
population  of  Siberia  is  composed  of  the  hardiest  and 
most  enterprising  elements  of  the  Russian  stock. 
The  Government  recommends  settlers  to  proceed 
with  their  own  horses,  independent  of  the  railway, 
at  the  rate  of  about  forty  to  fifty  miles  a  day,  taking 
all  their  household  goods  with  them. 

119 


\ 


t 


f 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

The  western  provinces  or  governments  of  Siberia, 
Tobolsk  and  Tomsk,  are  together  larger  than  the 
whole  of  Western  Europe,  including  Germany  and 
Austria-Hungary.  This  is  mainly  arable  land,  and 
may  be  described  as  Siberia  Felix.  Here  the  Russian 
peasant  finds  conditions  very  similar  to  those  he  is 
accustomed  to  in  Russia,  and  here,  far  removed  from 
official  interference  and  virtually  unhampered,  he 
develops  sterling  quahties  and  great  independence. 
It  will  take  generations  to  settle  this  enormous 
territory.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  the  Russian 
agriculturist  with  his  primitive  methods  is  still  at  a 
disadvantage  compared  with  the  Canadian,  for 
instance;  nevertheless  there  is  a  fine  field  for 
agricultural  machinery,  and  the  Russian  is  rapidly 
discovering  its  advantages. 

The  province  of  Irkutsk  very  greatly  resembles  the 
above  western  provinces,  but  in  the  Altai  region  we 
find  conditions  not  favourable  to  the  genius  of  the 
Russian  peasant.  In  the  gold-mining  district  of 
Siberia  the  Russian  shines  least. 

The  Russian  peasant  has  never  been,  and  I  venture 
to  think  never  will  be,  an  ideal  miner.  American 
mining  engineers  have  frequently  complained  to  me  of 
the  laziness  of  the  Russian  miner,  and  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  suitable  labour  for  the  Siberian  mines. 
This  is  due  entirely  to  a  misconception  of  the  Russian 
Government,  who  do  all  they  can  to  keep  out  the 
Chinese.  Russian  Government  officials  in  Siberia 
have  repeatedly  laid  stress,  in  conversation  with  me, 

120 


V  - 


SIBERIA 

on  the  danger  of  what  they  regard  as  the  Chinese 
menace.  They  say  the  Chinese  labour  gangs  are  the 
most  serious  competitors  of  Russian  labour,  and  that, 
in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  Government,  they 
cannot  be  kept  out.  A  moment's  reflection  will  show 
that  the  complaints  of  the  American  mining  engineers 
seem  to  point  to  the  desirabihty  of  accepting  as  a 
remedy,  and  welcoming,  the  support  of  the  despised 
Chinese  ganger,  whose  invincibility  is  the  despair  of 
the  officials.  The  example  of  Germany  could  surely 
be  safely  followed  in  this  instance.  In  Germany  the 
mining  work  is  not  performed  by  Germans,  but  by 
Poles,  Hungarians,  and  even  Italians,  just  as  the 
navvy  work  of  the  United  States  of  America  is  not 
performed  by  American  citizens.  Siberia  is  an 
enormous  country,  and  will  for  many  generations  to 
come  absorb  all  the  population  Russia  can  spare  to 
settle  its  arable  land.  Why  should  not  the  mining 
operations  be  performed  by  nomadic  Chinese  gangs  ? 
This  seems  to  me  the  only  solution  of  the  problem. 
That  Siberia  is  in  need  of  settlers  is  proved  by  the 
policy  Russia  has  adopted  in  the  present  war  of 
offering  land  in  that  region  to  the  Slav  soldiers  of  the 
Austrian  army  who  have  been  taken  prisoners  in 
such  large  numbers. 

To  the  British  public,  Siberia  will  for  many  years 
to  come  be  interesting  principally  on  account  of  its 
imdoubted  mineral  wealth,  its  gold-fields  and  coal- 
fields, its  petroleum  and  similar  deposits,  and  in  order 
that  these  may  be  economically  worked,  and  thus 

121 


II 


■ 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

contribute  to  the  development  and  wealth  of  the 
Russian  Empire,  abundant  efficient  labour  is  essential. 
That  labour  is  plentiful,  and  is  insistently  demanding 
admission ;  but  the  Government,  from  a  misplaced 
national  sentiment,  will  not  allow  this  source  to  be 
made  fully  available.     In  this  attitude  the  Russian 
Government,  I  hasten  to  add,  is  actuated  by  the  best 
motives,  only  I  venture  to  think  that  it  has  misjudged 
the  question,  and  confused  the  issue,  by  mixing  up 
national  and  economical  considerations.    In  this  case 
the  national  considerations  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
come  into  play  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  proper 
place  for  the  Russian  peasant  is  on  the  land,  and  in 
Siberia  there  is  no  question  of  over-population. 
"^  The  Trans-Siberian  Railway  is  a  link  between  the 
Far  East  and  Western  Europe,  the  importance  of 
which  cannot   be  exaggerated.     The   effect  it   has 
already  produced  has  scarcely  been  recognised,  but 
as  time  goes  on  its  influence  will  be  increasingly  felt, 
and  Russia  will  find  it  more  and  more  difficult  to  main- 
tain that  international  highway  pure  and  undefiled 
from  all  alien  influences.     Already  Eastern  Siberia 
abounds  in  industrious  Chinese  and  Japanese,  who 
everywhere  elbow  out  by  their  frugality,  low  wages, 
and  superior  industry  the  easy-going  Russians,  and 
it  is  not  by  legal  measures  and  Government  regula- 
tions that  the  Russian  can  be  protected  from  the 
competition  of  these  redoubtable  rivals.    The  problem 
must  be  faced  and  frankly  met.     Russia  can  protect 
her  agricultural  classes,  and  can  afford  to  allow  the 

12a 


I 


SIBERIA 

Chinese  to  do  the  work  for  which  they  appear  to  be 
especially  fitted,  for  the  Chinaman  has  no  desire  to 
become  a  settler  or  to  expatriate  himself. 

That  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway  is  effecting 
changes  which  the  Russian  Government  is  powerless 
to  prevent  is  proved  by  the  examples  of  Kharbin  and 
Vladivostok.  Vladivostok  Hterally  translated  means 
"  Rule  thou  the  East.'*  At  present,  however,  it  looks 
as  though  the  East  were  about  to  rule  the  port  in 
question.  In  the  past  Russia  permitted  the  trade  of 
Vladivostok  to  fall  entirely  into  the  hands  of  German 
merchants.  To-day  these  German  merchants  are  of 
course  enemies  and  expelled,  and  the  Japanese,  being 
close  at  hand,  have  taken  their  place.  The  Japanese 
have  consequently  become  the  most  influential  people 
in  Vladivostok.  The  great  Japanese  firms  have  shown  a 
remarkable  adaptabihty,  and  have  acquired  European 
business  methods  with  an  astonishing  rapidity.  They 
are  a  progressive  and  enterprising  people,  and  it  may 
be  confidently  predicted  that  their  influence  will  be 
far  more  beneficial  and  stimulating  than  that  of  the 
German  firms  who  preceded  them,  and  who,  it  must 
be  confessed,  were  more  parasitic  than  constructive. 

Vladivostok  is  thus  rapidly  becoming  a  cosmo- 
politan port,  for  the  Japanese  is  not  the  only  influence 
which  is  making  itself  felt.  The  American  finds 
Vladivostok  quite  a  convenient  place,  and  is  rapidly 
entering  the  mineral  zone  of  Siberia  via  that  accessible 
open  door,  wliich  is,  however,  frost-bound  in  the 
winter.     But  we  shall  soon  see  developments  which 

123 


\ 


,4- 


?     ;- 

.V 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 


I 


k 


) 
' 


will  place  America  in  direct  communication  with  Far 
Eastern  Russia  all  the  year  round. 

If  we  want  to  be  convinced  of  the  cosmopolitan 
effect  of  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway  we  need  only 
turn  to  Kharbin,  which  the  Russians  have,  with 
pardonable  exaggeration,  called  the  Paris  of  the  Far 
East.  Here  Europe  and  Asia  mingle  without  merging, 
here  there  is  an  opera  and  there  are  cafe  chantants, 
here  was  the  commercial  centre  of  the  once  important 
soya  bean,  here  fortunes  used  to  be  made  and  lost  on 
'Change,  and  here  the  Chinese  are  ineradicable. 


124 


CHAPTER    X 


THE  CAUCASUS 


The  Caucasus  is  a  mountain  range  which  separates 
the  Black  Sea  from  the  Caspian,  and  connects 
Russia  with  Asia  Minor.  To  the  Russian  imagination 
it  conjures  up  romance  and  adventure.  Here 
Lermontoff  was  exiled  and  fought  his  fatal  duel, 
here  the  Nobel  Brothers  laid  the  foundation  of  their 
princely  fortune.  From  here  Peter  the  Great  dreamed 
of  conquering  Persia ;  and  the  Caucasus  has  been 
the  base  from  which  Russia  has  conducted  her 
Central  Asian  campaigns. 

For^eauty  of  scenery  it  is  unrivalled,  with  its  snow- 
clad  mountains,  its  virgin  forests,  and  its  lovely 
lakes  ;  it  is  the  Switzerland  of  Eastern  Europe,  only 
much  more  luxuriant  in  foUage.  It  took  Russia  the 
best  part  of  two  centuries  to  conquer  and  subdue 
this  wonderful  region,  with  its  variegated  population 
and  remarkable  mineral  wealth. 

From  Russia  the  Caucasus  is  usually  approached 
via  Vladikavkas,  "  Rule  thou  the  Caucasus,"  by 
that  remarkable  engineering  feat  the  Gruzinskaya 
Doroga,  or  Georgian  Road,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  highways   in  the  world.     It   was  my 

125 


II 


i 


i 


':i: 


I- 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

fortune  to  travel  there  from  Turkey,  and  I  entered 
this  enchanted  land  from  Batoum.  The  impression 
left  on  my  mind  was  that  the  journey  from 
Trebizond  to  Batoum  was  like  a  rapid  transition 
from  barbarism  to  civiUsation.  As  soon  as  my 
steamer  entered  the  harbour  of  Batoum  I  espied 
the  stalwart  forms  of  Russian  soldiers  and  sailors 
keeping  order  amongst  a  crowd  of  Oriental  riif-raff. 
These  representatives  of  autocracy  seemed  to  me,  in 
contrast  with  the  Turks  I  had  left  behind  me,  the 
pink  of  smartness.  As  I  got  nearer  I  could  see  no 
trace  upon  their  faces  of  that  fierce  and  cruel 
fanaticism  and  that  animal  stupidity  which  cloud 
the  countenances  of  the  officials  of  the  Sultan. 
I  was  in  another  world.  Here  was  shipping  of 
every  description,  locomotives  standing  on  the  quay 
with  long  trains  of  goods  wagons  waiting  for  mer- 
chandise, an  atmosphere  of  business  and  bustle,  and 
with  it  that  indefinable  air  of  vastness  and  order 
which  is  pecuhar  to  Russia.  The  police  officer  who 
came  on  board  to  examine  passports  was  a  courteous 
European  gentleman,  who  wore  an  expression  of 
calm  dignity  very  different  from  the  low  cunning 
and  insolence  of  the  Turks.  As  I  put  my  foot  on 
land  and  looked  up  at  the  glorious  mountains  of 
the  Caucasus,  I  breathed  more  freely.  The  very 
air  seemed  to  be  different.  I  felt  instinctively  that 
I  was  in  a  great  country— young,  energetic,  and  full 
of  hope  and  promise. 

A  Httle  less  than  forty  years  ago  Ba,toum  was  a 

126 


THE   CAUCASUS 

small  fishing  village,  pestilent  and  vile.  Its  very 
name  meant  **  the  end  of  everything,"  it  was  the 
Ultima  Thule  of  Turkish  dominion  in  the  Black  Sea. 
I  have  had  the  privilege  of  knowing  the  gallant  and 
typically  Russian  officer  who  captured  Batoum  with 
a  regiment  of  Cossacks  in  the  Russo-Turkish  War  in 
1877.  He  was  severely  reprimanded  for  his  foolhardy 
feat.  General  Vassiltchikoff  is  essentially  a  courteous, 
chivalrous,  cultured  Russian  officer,  exactly  like  an 
Englishman  in  manner,  appearance  and  mode  of 
thought.  Batoum  is  to-day  a  flourishing  town. 
The  shores  of  the  Black  Sea  are  lined  by  a  beautiful 
and  spacious  boulevard,  somewhat  reminiscent  of 
the  Promenade  des  Anglais  at  Nice,  where  the 
notabilities  of  Batoum,  with  their  wives,  sisters  and 
sweethearts,  disport  themselves  in  true  Russian 
fashion.  The  trip  from  Trebizond  had  been  charming, 
the  magnificent  mountains  imparting  grandeur  to 
the  scenery  ;  but  here  in  Batoum,  when  one  was  as  it 
were  face  to  face  with  them,  the  splendour  of  these 
snow-capped  mountains  exceeded  my  liveliest 
anticipations. 

The  journey  from  Batoum  to  Tiflis  was  a  revelation. 
The  road  beats  the  famous  Comiche  of  the  Riviera 
hollow.  Through  mountain  passes,  amid  deep  ravines 
and  by  steep  precipices,  now  keeping  the  waters  of  the 
Black  Sea  in  view,  now  along  the  valley  of  a  romantic 
river,  with  perpendicular  and  hilly  banks,  the  ruins 
of  the  castles  of  former  robber  princes  frowning  down 
upon  us,  the  railway  winds  its  picturesque  course. 

127 


\i 


h  U 


4  I 


i 

<■: 

J- 


I 


I  , 


II 

» i 


it 


i     ■  : 

1    I! 


!i 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

The  pace  was  slow,  but  then  that  gave  one  time  to 
take  in  the  beauties  of  the  scenery.  Here  and  there 
I  came  across  tea  plantations  minded  by  the  affable 
Chinaman  in  his  national  dress,  who  had  been 
imported  with  the  tea  by  enterprising  Russian  tea 
merchants  anxious  to  make  the  experiment  of 
growing  tea  on  Russian  soil.  In  Odessa,  and  in 
fact  all  over  the  South  of  Russia,  China  tea  is, 
however,  being  rapidly  supplanted  by  the  Ceylon 
article. 

As  the  train  slowly  meandered  on  towards  its 
destination — I  must  admit  that  the  carriages  were 
luxuriously  comfortable  —  mounted  Circassians 
occasionally  came  in  sight,  wearing  their  curious 
sheepskin  caps  and  equally  curious  capes.  Horse 
and  rider  seemed  to  form  part  of  the  same  organism. 
The  men  were  armed  to  the  teeth,  and  extremely 
handsome.  All  Circassians,  or  nearly  all,  are  and 
look  like  princes.  Their  sharp,  regular  features, 
tall,  elegant  figures  and  graceful  carriage  denote 
purity  of  race.  They  have  a  walk  pecuHarly  their 
own,  which  is  inimitable.  The  men  are  brave,  and 
the  women  beautiful. 

The  capital  and  "  queen  "  of  the  Caucasus  is  the 
handsome  town  of  Tiflis,  which  is  so  full  of  officers 
of  the  higher  grades  that  the  people  say  you  cannot 
spit  without  hitting  a  general.  Tiflis,  surrounded  by 
glorious  snow-capped  mountains,  is  so  hilly  that 
some  of  the  streets  look  Hke  toboggan  slides,  but  the 
principal  thoroughfare,  in  which  are  situated  the  chief 

128 


THE   CAUCASUS 

public  buildings,  is  a  very  fine  and  spacious  street. 
The  roadway  is  of  enormous  breadth.  The  cathedral 
and  theatre,  one  in  purest  Byzantine  and  the  other 
Arabesque,  and  very  quaint  to  look  upon,  the 
palace  of  the  Viceroy,  the  severely  classical  Museum, 
the  somewhat  tawdry  Temple  of  Fame,  wherein  are 
preserved  the  trophies  and  mementoes  of  Russian 
valour,  all  these,  with  numerous  handsome  shops  and 
broad  footways,  on  which  are  seen  promenading, 
besides  officers  in  every  variety  of  uniform, 
Circassians,  Armenians,  Turks  and  Europeans,  form 
a  gorgeous  picture.  If  the  European  part  of  Tiflis 
is  handsome,  the  Tartar  or  Oriental  town  is  even  more 
picturesque  and  interesting.  This  is  the  happy  hunt- 
ing ground  of  the  collector  of  Oriental  antiquities. 
While  I  was  at  Tiflis  there  was  staying  at  my  hotel 
a  French  gentleman  with  his  wife,  who  spent  the  best 
part  of  their  day  revelling  among  the  curios  of  the 
Oriental  town,  and  picking  up  bargains,  which  they 
told  me  would  excite  the  envy  of  their  friends  in 
Paris. 

The  Museum  deserves  a  word  of  mention.  It  was 
organised  and  arranged  by  one  of  those  ubiquitous 
German  men  of  science  who  are  to  be  found  in  every 
clime.  The  genial  and  learned  Dr.  Radde  had 
worked  on  the  lines  of  the  late  Dr.  Bowdler  Sharpe, 
of  the  Natural  History  Museum  in  London,  and 
made  his  museum  a  veritable  object-lesson.  The 
walls  were  painted  to  represent  the  landscapes  of 
the  Caucasus,  and  the  specimens  of  animals  were 


129 


li 


-M 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 


THE   CAUCASUS 


« 


{' 


I 


placed  amidst  their  native  surroundings  and  flora.  I 
was  interested  to  find  bisons  and  tigers  included.  The 
ethnographical  section  was  particularly  fascinating. 

The  journey  from  Tiflis  to  Baku  is  scarcely  as 
interesting  from  the  point  of  view  of  scenery  as  the 
journey  from  Batoum  to  Tiflis.  Gradually  the 
country  begins  to  assume  that  flat  and  barren  aspect 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  shores  of  the  Caspian 
and  of  the  northern  plateau  of  the  stony  table-land 
of  Asia  Minor. 

A  strange  spectacle  awaits  the  traveller  on  his 
arrival  at  Baku.  He  sees  before  him  an  enormous 
barren  sand  waste,  and  beyond  it  the  sea.  No  town 
is  in  sight.  Suddenly  the  train  reaches  the  end  of  this 
desert,  and  the  traveller  finds  himself  descending  the 
plateau,  and  can  descry  the  town  of  Baku  fringing 
the  Caspian.  On  his  approach  his  nostrils  become 
invaded  with  that  odour  of  naphtha  which  will  never 
leave  them  until  Baku  is  miles  away. 

It  is  a  strange-looking  town.  The  streets  are 
broad  and  clean.  There  is  a  magnificent  quay. 
Telephones,  electric  trams,  all  the  newest  inventions 
abound.  If  the  houses  were  a  little  taller  and  a  little 
more  ugly,  one  might  almost  fancy  oneself  in  an 
American  city  out  West.  There  is  the  same 
suggestion  of  newness  about  everything,  the  same 
sanguine  atmosphere.  Everybody  is  hopeful.  But 
the  quantities  of  Persians  and  Tartars  in  their 
picturesque  costumes,  the  camels  in  the  market- 
place  the  Persian  citadel,  and  the  Russian  soldiers 


and  peasants  dispel  the  illusion.  No  vegetation  of 
any  kind  flourishes  in  Baku,  owing  to  the  acidity  of 
the  soil  and  the  naphtha  in  the  air ;  but  the  town  is 
enterprising,  and  has  laid  out  a  park  with  earth 
imported  from  more  fertile  regions,  the  shrubs,  trees 
and  flowers  being  regularly  renewed ;  the  footpaths, 
however,  are  of  asphalt. 

Baku  is  divided  into  two  towns — the  white  and 
the  black.  In  the  black  town  are  the  oil  refineries. 
It  is  separated  by  an  enormous  sandy  waste,  many 
miles  in  extent,  from  Baku  proper,  the  white  town, 
and  is  built  entirely  of  wood,  so  that  when  it  bums, 
as  it  often  does,  no  valuable  materials  are  wasted. 

Some  of  the  finest  oil  wells  are  situated  close  by 
at  Balakhanni.  Here  the  visitor  will  be  surprised 
to  find  enormous  lakes  of  oil.  All  over  the  district 
are  quaint  pyramidical  timber  structures  looking  like 
gigantic  windmills  without  sails.  These  are  fountains. 
Occasionally  a  fountain  will  be  too  impetuous  for 
such  control,  and  will  burst  the  bonds  of  the  timber 
structure.     Hence  the  lakes. 

I  have  seen  such  fountains  spouting  forth  dense 
black  naphtha  a  hundred  feet  high  and  more.  Such 
fountains,  of  course,  make  the  fortunes  of  their 
lucky  owners  while  they  last ;  but  they  are  very 
capricious  in  their  behaviour,  and  will  stop  as 
suddenly  as  they  started.  While  they  are  spouting 
the  proprietor  is  the  popular  hero  of  the  day.  He 
is  feted,  photographed,  pointed  out  in  the  street. 
He  is  a  celebrity,  and  all  because  he  has  been  lucky 


130 


lyi 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

enough  to  strike  oil.  While  he  is  sitting  in  his  club 
drinking  champagne  and  playing  cards,  his  fountain 
is  working  for  him,  and  vomiting  forth  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth  a  fabulous  wealth,  which  keeps 
on  increasing  without  any  effort  of  his,  and  then 
unexpectedly  fails. 

Not  far  from  Balakhanni  is  Sourakhani,  the 
Mecca  of  the  fire-worshippers,  with  its  marvellous 
temple  of  eternal  fire,  to  which  pilgrimages  are  still 
made  annually  by  the  disciples  of  Zoroaster. 

To  turn  from  the  Caspian  Sea  to  the  land  frontiers 
of  Russia  and  Persia,  which  this  war  has  brought 
home  to  the  general  public,  the  main  road  from 
Trabreez  to  Russia  goes  across  Julfa,  which  is  the 
frontier  town.  Some  years  ago  I  rode  along  this 
highway,  and  from  Julfa  visited  Etchmiadzin,  the 
famous  capital  of  Armenia.  On  this  journey  I 
passed  Armenian  villages,  Russian  colonies, 
Mohammedan  settlements,  all  within  easy  reach  of 
each  other,  and  all  living  peaceably  together  under 
the  benevolent  but  firm  rule  of  the  great  White  Tzar. 
To  say  there  is  no  dissatisfaction  would  be  grossly 
untrue,  to  say  that  the  various  peoples  had  no  just 
grievances  would  be  equally  misleading,  for  there  is 
no  place  in  this  imperfect  world  where  everybody  is 
happy,  but  that  the  population  are  prosperous  and 
progressing  is  absolutely  the  fact.  I  fear,  however, 
that  this  war  has  caused  much  desolation  amongst 
them. 

At  Etchmiadzin  the  Armenian  monks  predominate. 


132 


THE   CAUCASUS 

Here  is  the  cathedral  built  by  inspiration,  the  design 
having  been  revealed  to  the  architect  in  a  dream, 
and  here  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  libraries  in 
the  world. 

On  my  return  journey,  as  our  vessel  steamed  away 
from  Batoum,  and  the  mountains  of  the  Caucasus 
receded  from  us,  I  could  see  the  snow-capped 
peaks  of  that  glorious  range  meeting  the  deep- 
blue  sky  above.  Under  the  snow-capped  mountains 
lay  a  tier  of  smaller  hills  covered  with  smiling  verdure, 
then  came  a  belt  of  forests,  for  the  shores  of  the 
Caspian  are  well  wooded,  and  this  was  fringed  by  a 
border  of  yellow  sand  terminating  in  the  dark  blue 
of  the  sea.  The  colour  effect  was  superb.  As  we 
steamed  along,  stopping  at  every  port,  I  had 
opportunities  of  studying  the  pleasant  patriarchal 
methods  of  government  which  still  prevail.  The 
first  place  of  interest,  to  me  at  least,  which  we 
touched  was  the  monastery  of  New  Athens.  This 
monastery,  which  is  situated  picturesquely  on  a  hill 
overlooking  the  sea,  is  partly  buried  in  trees.  The 
next  place  of  interest  at  which  we  stopped  was 
Novorossisk.  This  is  the  new  granary  of  the  Black 
Sea. 

At  Novorossisk  there  is  an  enormous  grain 
elevator,  of  which  the  Russians  are  inordinately 
proud.  Here  the  railway  systems  of  Russia  meet, 
and  it  is  a  much  more  convenient  port  for  that 
reason  than  Odessa.  From  Novorossisk  we  pro- 
ceeded to  Kertch,  and  then  continued  our  voyage 


133 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

along  the  smiling  shores  of  the  soft,  luxuriant  Crimea, 
the  Riviera  of  Russia.  Here  we  definitely  bade 
farewell  to  the  grand  scenery  of  the  Caucasus,  whose 
retreating  shores  had  kept  in  sight  for  an  incredibly 
long  time.  We  stopped  at  Yalta  and  passed  Livadia, 
the  scene  of  the  last  days  of  the  late  Emperor 
Alexander  III.,  and  now  we  got  into  Balaklava. 

As  we  steamed  into  Sevastopol  Harbour  we  saw 
unfolded  before  us  the  imposing  panorama  of  the 
Black  Sea  Fleet.  There  was  a  stoppage  of  several 
hours  at  Sevastopol,  and  so  I  went  on  shore  to  look 
at  the  town  ;  but  there  was  no  time  to  go  to  see  the 
country.  I  am  bound  to  say  that  in  my  walk  round 
the  town  I  experienced  no  annoyance  of  any  kind, 
and  I  was  surprised  to  learn  later  from  the  papers  that 
a  party  of  English  gentlemen  had  not  been  allowed 
to  land. 

Sevastopol  still  looked  as  though  it  had  but  recently 
emerged  from  a  siege.  In  the  new  and  handsome 
streets  there  were  countless  ruins.  Side  by  side  with 
these  crumbling  mementoes  of  the  past  were  the  noble 
promises  of  the  future,  really  beautiful  public 
buildings,  severely  classical  in  style  and  white  and 
new,  pretty  parks,  broad  boulevards.  Altogether 
Sevastopol  is  a  beautiful  city ;  nevertheless,  it  looked 
as  though  an  invading  army  had  passed  through  it 
but  yesterday. 

Lest  the  people  of  Russia  should  be  blind  to  the 
ruins  which  still  remained  standing,  and  forget  the 
lessons  they  teach,  the  Government  has  erected  a 


THE   CAUCASUS 

number  of  museums,  in  which  the  history  of  Russian 
prowess  and  of  Russian  reverses  is  treasured  for  the 
edification  of  future  generations.  Close  to  these' 
national  treasure  houses  are  the  forts  to  protect  them, 
and  at  the  foot  of  the  city,  which  is  built  on  a  hill, 
in  the  spacious  harbour,  were  riding  at  anchor  the 
frowning  battleships,  which  will  prevent,  it  is 
believed,  a  repetition  of  history. 


V 


134 


^35 


CENTRAL   ASIA 


CHAPTER    XI 

CENTRAL  ASIA 

Not  many  years   ago   there   existed   a   school   of 

LtllT'T  T  ^''  "'  "^  ''''''^  '^^'  ^'  has  become 
extmct--which  used  to  frighten  its  disciples  with  the 

bogy  of  Russia.     It  was  always  preaching,  in  season 

and  out  of  season,  that  the  one  aim  and  object  of 

ntn  T' 1  T''  ^^'  '^'  ^"^^^^^^  ^^  I^dia,  and 
used  to  make  the  flesh  of  its  British  audiences  creep 
by  stating  that  they  had  not  many  more  years  left 
them  before  the  Russian  bear  would  burst  through 
the  Himalayas  and  pounce  upon  that  India  which  he 

11  omT''-  '"  r''  ''  ''^'""''y-  N^-  ^he  total 
area  of  India  is  1,802,000  square  miles,  that  of  Russia 

fpnf/rr  '^''^''  ™^'''  ^^^^^*  '^'  ^'^^  of  Russian 
Central  Asia  is  1.325,530  square  miles.  From  these 
figures  It  follows  that  according  to  the  school  above 
referred  to  Russia  deliberately  conquered  Central  Asia 

nl  T  .:  '^'^  "^^^^  conveniently  to  conquer 
India.  In  other  words,  she  is  supposed  to  have 
annexed  i  325  530  square  miles  of  territory  with  the 
sole  object  of  being  in  a  position  to  annex  a  further 
1,802  000  square  miles.  When  the  teaching  of  this 
school  are  thus  reduced  to  figures  they  are  at  the  same 
tune  reduced  to  absurdity. 

136 


A  careful  investigation  of  the  history  of  the  theory 
that  the  sole  aim  and  object  of  Russian  expansion 
was  the  ultimate  conquest  of  India  will  show  that  it 
had  its  origin  in  the  minds  of  the  enemies  of  the 
British  Empire,  and  was  fostered  by  them  for  obvious 
reasons.      The    first    tangible    appearance    of    the 
Russian  bogy  was  in  the  time  of  Napoleon  the  Great. 
Napoleon  felt  that  England  was  the  one  fly  in  the 
ointment  of  his  grandeur.     He  wanted  to  revive  the 
Roman  Empire  under  the  mantle  of  imperial  France, 
but  Great  Britain  stood  in  his  way.     He  had  been 
defeated  in  Egypt  in  his  early  days,  and  had  never 
been  able  to  conquer  the  island  empire  which  was  too 
stupid  to  know  when  it  was  thoroughly  beaten.    He 
therefore  suggested  to  Russia  the  idea  of  dividing  the 
world  between  the  two  empires,  the  western  and  the 
eastern,  and  held  out  to  Alexander  I.  the  dazzling 
prospect  of  the  conquest  of  India.     It  was  mainly 
because  Alexander  I.  did  not  fall  into  the  trap  thus 
ingeniously  laid  for  him,  nor  waste  the  forces  of  his 
country  in  a  futile  endeavour  to  march  his  armies 
over  the  Himalayas,  that  the  complications  which 
led  to  the  campaign  of  1812  arose,  and  it  was  on  this 
theoretical  rock  that  the  empire  of  Napoleon  was 
wrecked.     The  Indian  scare  was  revived  in  later 
years,    first    by  Napoleon  III.   and    later    by   his 
disciple  and  opponent,  Bismarck.      We  must  not 
forget  that  Bismarck  sat  at  the  feet  of   Napoleon 
III.   and    imbibed   his  ideas   before  he  overthrew 
him. 


137 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


CENTRAL   ASIA 


In  order  to  give  an  air  of  probability  to  this  idea 
that  Russia  desired  above  all  things  the  conquest  of 
India,  it  was  necessary  to  invent  a  myth  which  should 
give  it  some  semblance  of  probability.  That  myth 
was  the  famous  will  of  Peter  the  Great,  according  to 
which  the  founder  of  the  Russian  Empire  was 
supposed  to  have  left  as  a  legacy  to  his  descendants 
this  task  of  Indian  conquest.  It  is  not  within  the 
scope  of  this  brief  sketch  to  examine  critically  so 
extraordinary  a  myth,  but  a  little  common  sense  will 
enable  us  to  disperse  the  grim  forebodings  which  this 
myth  has  caused.  Who  has  been  the  most  in- 
sistent promoter  of  this  idea  of  Russian  aggrandise- 
ment, who  has  most  assiduously  fostered  the  belief 
in  the  sinister  designs  of  Russia  ?  To  that  question 
the  student  of  modem  politics  is  compelled  to  give 
but  one  answer,  it  was  Germany.  Why  should 
Germany,  who  always  pretended  that  the  friendship 
of  Russia  was  more  precious  to  her  than  any  other 
diplomatic  consideration,  be  so  anxious  to  foment 
discord  between  that  country  and  England,  and  why 
should  Germany,  that  honest  broker,  have  at  the 
Berlin  Congress  after  the  Russo-Turkish  War  so 
openly  sided  with  England  ?  Because  Germany 
had  greater  and  more  cogent  reasons  for  fearing 
Russia  than  any  other  country,  and  because  she 
wanted  to  create  a  sort  of  lightning  conductor  in 
England  which  would  deflect  from  her  own  borders 
the  electricity  which  she  knew  was  gathering  within 
the  frontiers  of  her  neighbour. 

138     • 


One  glance  at  the  growth  of  Russia  will  explain 
my  meaning,  the  present  war  will  illuminate  it. 

Some  people  have  described  Russia  as  an  Asiatic 
power,  and  such  to  a  large  extent  she  was  when  she 
was  called  Muscovy  and  was  a  comparatively  small 
and  land-locked  state.  Peter  the  Great  decided  to 
make  this  obscure  semi-Asiatic  country  a  European 
Empire,  and  he  succeeded,  but  not  by  expanding 
eastwards,  rather  by  defeating  his  western  and  south- 
western neighbours.  It  was  at  the  expense  of 
Sweden  and  Turkey  that  Russia  became  a  European 
power.  Russia  owed  her  rise  and  inception  to  the 
Byzantine  Empire  ;  it  was  at  the  feet  of  Byzantium 
that  she  had  been  taught  Christianity.  WTiat  more 
natural  than  that  she  should  regard  her  historical 
mission  to  be  the  re-establishment  of  Byzantine 
Christianity,  the  recapture  of  Constantinople  from 
the  Turks,  and  the  emancipation  from  the  yoke  of 
the  infidel  her  racial  brethren  who  had  for  so  long 
been  oppressed  by  Ottoman  rule  ?  Out  of  this  very 
natural  desire  there  speedily  developed  a  mystical 
semi-religious  and  semi-political  system  of  politics 
which  has  been  called  the  Slavonic  idea.  That 
Slavonic  idea  has  been  much  more  dangerous  in 
theory  to  the  central  European  powers  than  it  could 
ever  become  to  England.  On  the  contrary,  the  liberal 
section  of  British  thought  has  always  been  in  strong 
sympathy  with  the  emancipation  of  the  Balkan 
Christians  from  Turkish  rule.  It  was  in  helping  to 
create  a  modem  Greece  that  Lord  Byron  spent  the 


139 


/ 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

last  days  of  his  life,  and  the  Bulgarians  know  that 
they  had  in  Gladstone  their  warmest  friend. 

But  Austria  and  Germany  could  not  view  with 
satisfaction  the  growth  of  the  Russian  Empire. 
Their  object  was  to  endeavour  to  create  interests  for 
Russia  in  the  East  calculated  to  keep  that  country 
and  England  at  daggers  drawn  for  many  years  to 
come.  The  way  England  and  Russia  were  hounded 
against  each  other  and  taught  to  regard  each  other 
as  enemies  was  most  skilful.*  But  even  Germany 
was  imable  to  keep  out  the  tide  or  arrest  the  centri- 
fugal force  of  her  eastern  neighbour.  With  the 
collapse  of  Turkey  after  the  Balkan  War  the 
disintegration  of  Austria  seemed  inevitable,  and  that 
would  have  meant  the  isolation  of  Germany.     In 

*  I  may  here  be  permitted  to  record  a  small  personal  experience 
of  my  own.  Some  twenty-five  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  working 
journalist  in  London,  a  Belgian  diplomatist,  who  was  a  personal 
.  friend,  told  me  that  he  had  just  heard  from  an  absolutely  trust- 
worthy source  that  the  Emperor  Alexander  III.  was  about  to 
proceed  to  Samarcand  and  have  himself  proclaimed  Emperor  of 
Central  Asia.  I  had  no  reason  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  my 
friend,  but  I  suspected  his  information,  so  I  mentioned  the  news 
to  a  very  old  friend  of  mine,  who  then  held  a  commanding  position 
on  one  of  our  leading  dailies,  and  who  knew  intimately  Russia's 
principal  statesmen.  He  listened  to  me  with  his  usual  sphinx-like 
expression,  smiled  his  customary  wise  smile,  and  said  gently  : 
"  I  would  not  mind  starting  the  hare  if  I  thought  he  would  run, 
but  I  don't  think  he  will."  That  hare  has  kept  extraordinarily 
quiet  ever  since.  This  may  serve  as  an  example  of  the  way  in 
which  attempts  were  made  to  create  friction.  When  I  was 
Renter's  correspondent  in  Berlin  I  had  several  similar  instances 
of  how  news  was  manufactured  in  that  capital. 


140 


CENTRAL   ASIA 

their  blind  fear  at  the  approach  of  what  the  Germans 
regarded  as  a  cataclysm  they  plunged  into  the  present 
war,  and  through  their  craven  apprehension  of  a 
danger  which  was  but  vaguely  looming  in  the 
distance,  they  destroyed  the  work  of  Bismarck's 
diplomacy,  and  forced  Russia  and  Great  Britain  to 
combine  with  France  against  them. 

But  this  has  taken  us  a  long  way  from  Central 
Asia,  and  the  distance  is  a  measure*  of  the  un- 
importance of  this  region  to  Russian  expansion 
and  aggrandisement.  Indeed,  Central  Asia  cannot 
be  described  as  a  desirable  conquest.  Its  long 
stretches  of  arid  desert  have  under  Russian  rule  been 
irrigated  and  reclaimed  for  civilisation ;  its  unruly 
nomadic  tribes,  especially  the  fierce  Tekke  Turkomans, 
have  been  tamed  and  pacified;  several  Russian 
generals  have  earned  fame  and  laurels  in  this  region  ; 
Russian  engineers,  notably  the  late  General  Anenkoff , 
who  died  very  suddenly  in  Paris,  have  made  reputa- 
tions and  fortunes  by  building  railways  across  these 
deserts ;  but  the  Russian  Empire  has  gained  not  one 
iota  of  power  or  wealth  by  this  expansion.  Rather 
has  Central  Asia  been  a  source  of  weakness  to  the 
Empire,  absorbing  as  it  has  a  number  of  highly-trained 
officials  whom  Russia  can  but  ill  afford  to  spare,  and 
immobihsing  a  very  considerable  army  which  has  to 
be  kept  on  practically  a  war  footing,  as  the  unruly 
population  are  much  addicted  to  revolts,  risings  and 
unrest.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  by  subjugating 
these  tribes  Russia  has  been  rendering  a  service  to 


141 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 


what  it  is  the  fashion  to  call  civilisation  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate.  Central  Asia  has 
been  conquered  in  a  fit  of  absent-mindedness,  Hke 
India,  and  but  too  frequently  by  generals  who  were 
anxious  to  win  distinction  and  rewards,  and  whose 
glorious  deeds,  as  Alexander  II.  once  explained  to 
our  ambassador.  Lord  Augustus  Loftus,  could  not  be 
conveniently  disavowed.  The  history  of  the  Russian 
advance  in  the  Far  East  is  not  dissimilar ;  in  both 
cases  the  result  has  contributed  but  little  to  the 
prosperity  and  prestige  of  the  country,  and  in  both 
cases  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  trace  the  influence  of 
German  diplomacy. 

Russia's  true  mission  is  not  in  Southern  Asia,  but 
in  Central  and  Eastern  Europe,  where  the  Slavonic 
races  await  her  call.  Under  the  presidency  of  that 
great  Empire  they  will  be  able  to  develop  peaceably, 
and  work  out  the  noble  destiny  which  undoubtedly 
awaits  them. 


142 


CHAPTER   XII 

GERMAN      INFLUENCE 

The  reader  who  has  borne  with  me  through  these 
pages  must  have  gathered  as  we  ambled  along  to- 
gether that  Russia  owes  very  much  to  German 
influence.  Peter  the  Great  virtually  imbibed  his  love 
of  Europe  during  wild  carouses  with  boon  companions 
from  the  German  colony  of  Moscow.  Catherine  the 
Great  was  a  German,  so  was  her  husband,  Peter  III. 
Her  descendants  married  German  princesses,  and  it 
must  be  confessed  that  these  German  rulers  of  Russia 
did  much  for  their  country,  and  honestly  laboured 
within  their  lights  and  to  the  best  of  their  abihty  to 
improve  the  lot  of  their  subjects.  If  their  efforts 
were  mostly  clumsy  and  often  unsuccessful  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  they  were  after  all  Germans. 

Germany  was  Russia's  nearest  neighbour.  From 
Germany  she  imported  her  professors  and  her 
merchants,  her  men  of  science,  her  agricultural 
experts,  her  educational  methods  were  copied  from 
Germany,  and  to  German  universities  numbers  of 
Russian  youths,  as  a  matter  of  course,  made 
pilgrimages.  Hence  the  superficial  observer  would  be 
pardoned  for  concluding  that  Germany  must  be  the 

'43 


1:1' 


'  1 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

one  country  to  which  all  Russians  cannot  fail  to  look 
with  fond  affection  and  profound  gratitude.    But  the 
very  reverse  is  the  case.     It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
that  there  is  no  country  in  the  world  in  which  the 
Germans  are  so  cordially  detested  as  Russia.  Nor  is 
the  reason  far  to  seek,  it  will  be  found  in  the  pro- 
verbial nutshell,  and  is  explained  by  the  incompati- 
bihty  of  temper  of  the  Slavonic  and  Teutonic  races. 
There    is    no     need     to     over-emphasise    this 
incompatibihty,  suffice  it  to  state  that  while  the 
Russians  have  the  artistic  temperament,  the  Germans 
have  the  practical  temperament,  and  possess  the 
remarkable  gift  of  being  able  to  work  without  getting 
impatient,   of  taking   a  sort   of   tame   interest   in 
drudgery.    This  is  the  secret  of  their  mastery  of 
detail.     Their  imaginations  are  never  fired  by  their 
own  achievements,  they  remain  stoHd  and  dissatisfied 
and  continue  plodding,  without  haste  and  without 
rest ;    as  one  of  their  poets  has  so  admirably  ex- 
pressed it,  never  losing  count  of  the  trees,  though 
occasionally  failing  to  take  in  the  forest.     With  this 
extraordinary     capacity     for     taking     pains,     not 
necessarily   an   attribute   of   genius,    the   Germans 
combine  a  pedantic  intolerance.    While  they  never 
get  excited  over  their  work,  they  constantly  grow 
impatient  and  irritated  with  the  people  with  whom 
they  work.     This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  German's 
attitude  towards  work  is  purely  intellectual,  never 
affectionate,    and    he    therefore    lacks    sympathy. 
Whenever  the  German  has  attempted  to  follow  in 


144 


GERMAN    INFLUENCE 

the  footsteps  of  England  and  to  found  colonies,  this 
lack  of  sympathy  has  been  the  conspicuous  cause  of 
his  failure ;  for  the  German,  in  the  absence  of 
humanitarian  feelings,  and  in  his  desire  to  accomplish 
the  ends*  which  he  is  intellectually  convinced  are 
right,  has  no  other  method  of  appeal  than  the  appeal 
to  force.  His  object  is  to  strike  terror  in  order  to 
compel  obedience,  he  never  seeks  to  win  allegiance 
by  kindness,  affection  or  sweet  reasonableness.  In 
his  resolute  determination  to  impose  his  will  on 
others,  and  in  his  impatient  irritability,  he  is  capable 
of  the  most  terrible,  calculated  atrocities,  which 
appear  only  as  means  to  an  end,  and  are  con- 
sequently, to  him,  excusable. 

Introduce  such  a  stolid,  pitiless  and  unresponsive 
race  to  a  people  who  live  by  their  affections,  with 
whom  charity  and  sympathy  are  so  abundant  that 
they  amount  almost  to  a  vice,  a  people  like  the 
Russians,  and  you  wiU  not  be  surprised  to  find  they 
cannot  mix,  that  they  regard  each  other  with  mutual 
aversion.  The  German  despises  the  amiable,  easy- 
going Russian,  and,  because  he  cannot  understand 
him,  considers  him  a  contemptible,  lazy  barbarian. 
The  Russian,  on  the  other  hand,  looks  on  the  German 
as  a  sort  of  inhuman  giant,  an  unfeeling  and  cruel 
taskmaster,  a  kind  of  superman,  whose  meticulous 
devotion  to  detail  appears  as  his  only  weakness,  a 
sort  of  stupidity.  Consequently  the  Russian  hates 
and  loathes  the  hard,  unsympathetic  German  as 
much  as  the  latter  despises  the  former.    The  two 


[  \ 


10 


145 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 


« 


races  have  thus  no  common  meeting-ground,  and  are 
temperamentally  incapable  of  understanding  each 
other.  By  a  strange  irony  of  fate  they  are  neigh- 
bours, and  have,  in  consequence  of  their  close 
proximity,  been  brought  into  constant  touch,  their 
mutual  hatred  being  only  increased  by  this  inter- 
course. 

.When   Peter  the   Great   made   up  his   mind  to 
transform  his  semi-Asiatic  state  into  a  European 
country  he  naturally  invited  foreigners  to  help  him 
in  his  Herculean  task,  and  equally  naturaUy  found 
amongst  his  next-door  neighbours  the  most  con- 
venient instruments  for  his  purpose.     In  this  way 
Russia  became  a  sort  of  German  colony.     Seeing  that 
her  only  accessible  port  was  closed  during  six  months 
of   the    year,   it  followed  that   her   trade  had  to 
filter  through  Germany  before  it  could  reach  her. 
Thus  Germany  became  the  taskmaster  of  Russia, 
the  Germans  were,  what  they  themselves  call,  her 
culture    carriers  —  kultur-traeger  —  they    introduced 
German  educational  methods  and  German  adminis- 
tration.     The    more    progressive    of    the    country 
gentlemen,  especially  those  who  owned  large  estates, 
engaged  Germans  to  manage  these  estates  for  them 
on  the  latest   plan.     Such   German   estate   agents 
brought   with   them   their  brutahty   and  want   of 
sympathy.     They  failed  to  introduce  the  methods 
which  they  were  engaged  to  acclimatise,  but  they 
succeeded  in  makmg  the  name  of  German  feared  and 
detested  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 

146 


GERMAN    INFLUENCE 


i  I 


They  practised  appalling  cruelties,  they  led  dis- 
gusting lives,  and  they  were  universally  loathed.  As 
teachers  and  professors  they  were  not  more  successful. 
In  the  domain  of  science  and  learning  they  made 
themselves  ridiculous  rather  than  terrible,  and 
Russian  literature  abounds  in  comic  portraits  of  these 
pedantic  instructors. 

Had  German  influence  been  limited  to  this  exotic 
character,  it  might  have  still  been  pernicious,  but  it 
would  never  have  taken  root.  Unfortunately,  by  the 
'  annexation  of  the  Baltic  Provinces  Russia  made 
what  was  virtually  German  territory  an  integral  part 
of  the  state.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  rulers  of 
Russia  were  of  German  race,  and  that  they  therefore 
very  naturally  felt  drawn  towards  their  German 
subjects,  the  nobles  of  the  Baltic  Provinces  played  a 
role  in  the  government  of  the  country  altogether 
disproportionate  to  their  number.  In  the  latter  part 
of  the  eighteenth  and  during  the  best  part  of  the 
nineteenth  centuries  we  constantly  come  across 
German  names  in  Russian  history.  The  Adlerbergs, 
the  Elevens,  the  Osten-Sackens,  the  Lamsdorffs,  the 
Kleinmichels,  the  Neidhardts,  Engelhardts,  Kauf- 
manns,  Rehbinders,  Todlebens,  Schilders,  Korifs,  and 
quantities  of  others  spring  to  the  mind  at  once. 
With  very  few  exceptions,  these  nobles  of  the  Baltic 
owed  their  positions  more  to  court  favour  than  to 
conspicuous  ability,  some  have  been  even  regarded 
as  the  bane  of  the  country.  Tourgeniev,  in  one  of 
his  admirable  novels,  speaking  of  this  type,  describes 


r  I 


^J^ 


i^ 


147 


■ 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

them  as  "  court-generals,"  and  says  that  they  belong 
to  a  special  race  of  their  own,  entirely  different  from 
any  other,  and  having  nothing  in  common  with  the 
rest  of  Russia.    But  these  highly-placed  Baltic  nobles 
were  able  to  advance  the  interests  and  promote  the 
worldly  prosperity  of  their  compatriots.    Thus  it  has 
come  about  that  the  Germans  of  the  Baltic  Provmces, 
mostly    Protestants,    whilst    being    in    reahty    a 
conquered  and  subject  race,  have  acquired  a  position 
and  influence  in  Russia  so  great,  that  the  unmitiated 
would  almost  conclude  that   they  had  been  the 
victors  and  not  the  conquered.     Of  course,  their 
geographical  position  has  largely  contributed  to  this 
phenomenal  condition,  but  there  is  another  factor 
which  must  not  be  lost  sight  of. 

As  I  have  already  explained,  Peter  the  Great,  when 
he  reorganised  his  country,  was  anxious  to  secure  the 
co-operation  of  his  nobles,  and  for  this  reason  made 
it  compulsory  upon  them  to  serve  the  State.    Owing 
to  the  structure  of  society  at  that  time,  there  was 
virtually  no  middle  class,  the  guilds  of  merchants  in 
the  few  big  cities  being  practicaUy  the  only  exceptions. 
Thus  there  grew  up  in  Russia  the  idea  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  a  gentleman  to  serve  the  State,  and  indeed 
the  State  was  in  need  of  servants. '  During  the 
eighteenth     and     nineteenth     centuries      Russia 
swallowed  more  territory  than  she  could  conveniently 
digest.    Moreover,  the  bulk  of  this  new  territory  was 
very  sparsely  peopled.    We  all  know  the  story  of  the 
famous  Potemkin  villages,  stage  settlements,  which 

148 


GERMAN    INFLUENCE 

were   kept   on   the   move   to   give   the    Empress 
Catherine,    on   her   progress   through   her   newly- 
acquired  southern  dominions,  the  illusion  that  all 
this  territory  had  been  colonised.    In  Siberia,  in 
Poland,  in  the  Caucasus,  in  Central  Asia,  everywhere 
the  newly-acquired  territories  had  to  be  administered, 
and  absorbed  more  or  less  educated  men  whom  the 
national  hfe  could  but  ill  afford  to  spare.     The 
consequence  was  that  the  commercial  development 
of  the  country  was  retarded.    At  first  the  Baltic 
Provinces,  which  controlled  the  ports  of  entry,  Riga, 
Libau,  Revel,  etc.,  endeavoured  to  fill  the  gap,  and 
presently  began   to   overrun   the  country.     Later, 
however,  when  Germany  commenced  her  remarkable 
commercial    travelling    organisation,    and    started 
sending  highly-intelligent  and  presentable  represen- 
tatives to  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  it  was  natural 
that,  as  Russia  was  the  nearest,  it  should  also  be  the 
first  country  to  receive  their  attentions. 

On  visiting  Russia  the  German  commercial  traveller 
at  once  found  himself  among  sympathisers,  among 
German-speaking  Russians,  who  despised  the  inferior 
race,  as  they  regarded  it,  who  had  conquered  them, 
and  who  considered  themselves  to  be  members  of  the 
great  Germanic  family.  Finding  such  friendly  soil,  the 
emissaries  of  German  conunerce  were  not  slow  to 
report  how  favourable  a  field  for  enterprise  Russia 
afforded ;  and  thus  it  came  about  that  graduaUy  the 
Germans  began  to  flock  to  Russia,  to  invade  its 
commercial  centres,  and  to  take  possession  of  its 


149 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


trade  and  industry,  until,  commercially  speaking, 
Russia  became  to  a  large  extent  a  German  depen- 
dency. 

The  German  traders  were  followed  by  German 
engineers  and  chemists,  and  in  the  reign  of  Alexander 
III.,  when  the  national  movement  was  at  its  height, 
Russia  was  so  infested  by  Germans  that  they  filled 
all  the  scientific  and  learned  positions  as  well,  and 
even  keeping  the  Russians  in  their  own  country  out 
of  everything  worth  having.  Alexander  III.  deter- 
mined to  put  an  end  to  this  state  of  things,  but  found 
himself  helpless  in  face  of  force  of  circumstances. 
Thus  when  the  post  of  Imperial  Astronomer  fell 
vacant  he  could  not  find  a  suitable  person  with  a 
Russian  name  to  fill  it,  and  had  to  effect  a  compromise 
by  appointing  a  meritorious  Russian  general  and 
giving  him  a  German  assistant  to  do  the  work. 

Thus  German  influence  in  Russia  is  great.  It  has 
captured  trade  and  manufactures,  agriculture, 
science  and  education  ;  and  possibly  after  the  war  it 
may  revive  and  make  its  way  back  again  through 
the  open  door  of  the  Baltic  Provinces.  Of  course, 
Russia  knows  the  danger,  and  has  for  the  last  thirty 
years  been  working  at  Russianising  these  provinces, 
but  with  indifferent  success.  The  native  races  are 
not  German  but  Esthonians,  Letts  and  Lithuanians, 
who  have  for  centuries  been  crushed  under  the  yoke 
of  the  German  feudal  barons  who  conquered  and 
ruled  them.  The  Russian  Government  has  been 
trying    of    late   to   emancipate   these  native   races 


150 


GERMAN   INFLUENCE 

from  the  German  influence,  to  introduce  the  Russian 
language  and  religion,  to  make  scientific  studies  of 
the  ancient  native  dialects,  and  to  discourage  every- 
thing German,  even  going  to  the  length  of  renaming 
the  towns,  thus  Dorpat  has  become  Derpt    Libau 
Libavo,  etc.    With  the  traditional  ingratitude  of 
human  nature,  however,  these  native  races,  on  feeling 
their  feet,  as  it  were,  began  to  make  common  cause 
with  the  revolutionaries,  and  became  a  very  stubborn 
factor  in  the  revolutionary  movement  which  swept 
over  the  country  some  ten  years  ago. 

This  revolutionary  movement  is  another  contnbu- 
tory  cause  of  the  extraordinary  increase  m  recent 
vears  of  German  influence  in  the  domains  of  industry 
and    commerce    in    Russia.    The    new    ideas    and 
aspirations  bom  of   the  emancipation  of  the  serts 
found  expression  which  the  Russian  Government  was 
bound  to  regard  with  disfavour.    This  disfavour  on 
the  one  part  created  dissatisfaction  on  the  other. 
Moreover,  the  German  influences  at  Court,  foUowmg 
the  usual  German  methods  and  failing  to  understand 
the  workings  of  the  Russian  mind,  instigated  repr^- 
sive  and  reactionary  measures,  with  the  resuUt^^^ 
the  education  of  the  country  suffered  a  set  back  and 
the  intellectual  progress  of  the  nation  was  arrested^ 
Thus  the  honest  German  neighbours  were  placed  in 
the  position  of  being  able  to  come  to  the  rescue  o 
the  country  and  supply  its  inteUectual  wants  most 
disinterestedly,  having  previously  done  all  they  could 
to  create  the  conditions  so  favourable  to  themselves. 

151 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 


It  is  even  alleged  that  the  revolutionary  movement 
was  actually  financed  by  Germany. 

It  thus  happens  that  the  visitor  to  Russia  will  find 
to  his  surprise  that  the  majority  of  the  shops  in  the 
provincial  towns  are  kept  by  Germans.  In  Petrograd 
and  Moscow  this  strikes  the  traveller  at  once  as  most 
extraordinary,  and  even  in  distant  Tiflis  he  will  meet 
with  the  same  phenomenon.  Nearly  all  the  big 
commercial  firms  and  manufacturers  are  German  or 
at  least  foreign.  On  taking  up  a  newspaper  the 
visitor  will  discover  that  most  of  the  advertisers  have 
German  names.  This  is  not  due  so  much  to  the 
want  of  enterprise  among  Russians  as  to  the  fact 
already  referred  to,  that  the  public  services  absorb 
so  large  a  percentage  of  the  educated  population. 

Since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  I  am  given  to 
understand  that  a  great  change  has  taken  place,  and 
that  the  Russians  are  coming  into  their  own.  This 
seems  almost  incredible  in  view  of  the  former  state 
of  affairs,  for  during  the  last  thirty  years  the  influence 
of  German  manners  and  customs,  German  methods, 
German  taste  — or  want  of  it  — in  clothes,  archi- 
tecture, furniture,  etc.,  has  been  painfuUy  patent 
and  deplorably  on  the  increase.  Moreover,  the 
German  clerk,  the  German  commercial  traveller,  the 
German  commission  agent,  and  the  German  chemist 
were  ubiquitous. 


152 


CHAPTER   XIII 


BRITISH      PROSPECTS 


When  the  present  war  is  over,  and  people  will  again 
be  able  to  follow  the  peaceful  arts  without  dis- 
turbance, it  is  inconceivable  that  the  Germans  will 
be  allowed  to  return  to  Russia.  It  may  be  confidently 
assumed  that  every  attempt  will  be  made  to  keep 
them  out ;  and  although  these  attempts  may  not  be 
entirely  successful,  yet  there  can  be  little  doubt 
but  that  for  a  time  at  least  the  reign  of  German 
influence  in  Russia  will  have  to  cease.  What  shall 
take  its  place  ?  To  assume  that  the  Russians  will  be 
able  at  once  to  fill  the  void  themselves  is  irrational. 
As  we  have  seen,  the  bulk  of  the  population  is 
agricultural,  and  the  numbers  of  the  middle  classes 
are  disproportionately  small.  In  other  words,  there 
are  not  enough  educated  Russians  to  go  round.  After 
the  present  war  the  cry  of  Russia  for  the  Russians 
will  very  naturally  be  stronger  than  ever,  but  in 
spite  of  this  the  country  will  for  many  years  to  come 
be  compelled  to  look  to  foreign  aid  for  the  develop- 
ment of  her  trade  and  industries.  That  foreign  aid 
will  have  to  come  from  either  Great  Britain  or  the 
United  States.     Neither  France  nor  Belgium  will 


153 


l! 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

be  able  to  spare  the  time,  the  capital,  or  the  people 
which  will  be  required  for  the  commercial  and  tech- 
nical organisation  of  Russia.  The  United  States, 
it  cannot  be  denied,  have  got  their  foot  in  the 
country,  and  have  in  the  past  accomplished  much 
there.  Of  late,  however,  their  methods  have  too 
strongly  resembled  those  of  the  Germans  to  have  made 
them  popular,  and  they  have  shown  even  less  sym- 
pathetic insight  into  the  character  of  the  people. 
This  is  more  especially  true  of  American  mining 
engineers.  The  attitude  of  American  capital 
towards  labour  is  one  that  the  Russian  people  are 
slow  to  understand,  it  is  not  likely  to  take  root  in 
their  country. 

Great  Britain,  on  the  other  hand,  has  advantages 
which  it  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate.  As  Mr.  F.  H. 
Skrine,  in  his  admirable  Cambridge  University  Text- 
book on  The  Expansion  of  Russia,  so  happily  puts 
it,  while  our  friendship  with  Russia  dates  back  to 
the  spacious  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  Britons  and 
Russians  are  separated  by  the  breadth  of  Europe, 
by  divergence  in  creed,  language  and  politics. 

In  the  spacious  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  under 
the  tyrannical  rule  of  Ivan  the  Terrible  British 
merchants  established  satisfactory  commercial 
relations  with  Russia  which  have  lasted  to  this  day,  in 
spite  of  the  distance  which  separates  them  and  the 
divergence  in  creed,  language  and  politics.  As  for  the 
divergence  in  creed,  attempts  have  been  made  to 
reconcile   the    Greek   and   AngUcan    forms   of   the 


154 


BRITISH   PROSPECTS 

Catholic  Christian  religion,  and  although  these  were 
not  crowned  with  success,  they  have,  nevertheless, 
established  a  sympathy  which  had  not  formerly 
existed.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
political  sentiments  of  the  two  countries  will  in  the 
future  be  brought  under  a  common  denominator,  the 
denominator  of  representative  government.  There 
remains  the  language,  which  presents  fewer  difficulties 
to  English-speaking  people  than  to  any  other. 

To  return  to  historical  influences.  When  Peter 
the  Great  sallied  forth  on  his  apprenticeship  to  learn 
European  methods,  he  spent  a  large  part  of  his  time 
in  England,  where  the  house  of  the  famous  John 
Evelyn,  Sayes  Court,  near  Deptford,  was  placed  at 
his  disposal.  We  are  told  that  Evelyn  was  mortified 
by  the  gross  manner  in  which  his  house  and  garden 
were  abused  by  the  Russian  potentate  and  his 
retinue.  It  was  one  of  Peter's  amusements  to 
demolish  a  *'  most  glorious  and  impenetrable  holly 
hedge  "  by  pushing  a  wheel-barrow  through  it. 

Peter  the  Great  established  fairly  friendly  re- 
lations with  William  III.,  who  let  him  have  spirits 
that  were  above  proof,  and  thus  won  his  way  to 
his  heart. 

George  I.,  who  took  a  narrow  and  German  view 
of  the  expansion  of  Russia,  regarded  Peter  the  Great 
with  less  favour,  and  under  his  reign  our  relations 
with  that  country  became  less  friendly.  Catherine 
the  Great,  on  the  other  hand,  while  she  cordially 
despised  our  politicians,  cherished  a  great  admiration 

^55 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 


I 

I 


for  the  English  people,  and  had  all  her  grand- 
children brought  up  by  British  nurses.  It  was  from 
the  lips  of  their  British  nurses  that  the  future 
Emperors  of  Russia,  Alexander  I.  and  Nicholas  I. 
first  learned  to  lisp  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  their  early 
recollections  of  the  nursery  disposed  them  to  preserve 
to  the  end  a  soft  comer  in  their  hearts  for  the  country 
from  which  their  nurses,  for  whom  they  retained  a 
tender  affection,  had  sprung. 

Nicholas  I.  adored  the  British  people,  more 
especially  the  section  north  of  the  Tweed,  and 
desired  nothing  so  ardently  as  to  establish  friendly 
relations  with  them.  He  encouraged  British  engineers 
to  come  to  Russia  and  found  factories  there,  and  even 
during  the  Crimean  War  he  would  not  allow  these 
alien  enemies  to  be  disturbed,  but  shielded  them 
with  his  chivalrous  imperial  protection.  He  bestowed 
the  rank  of  General  on  Wilson,  and  loaded  him  with 
honours.  Since  his  time  English  has  been  largely 
spoken  at  Court,  and  all  the  Russian  Imperial  Family 
have  been  brought  up  by  British  nurses,  have  had 
English  tutors,  and  have  mostly  spoken  English 
before  any  other  language. 

Alexander  II.  had  been  a  suitor  for  the  hand  of 
Queen  Victoria,  and  his  son,  Alexander  III.,  and 
Edward  VII.  were  brothers-in-law  and  fast  friends. 
The  relations  between  King  George  and  Nicholas  II., 
who  resemble  each  other  so  much  in  appearance,  have 
always  been  most  cordial  and  affectionate,  and  all 
the  members  of  the  Russian  Imperial  Family  look 


156 


BRITISH    PROSPECTS 


upon  the  English  Court  as  a  sort  of  second  home. 
The  late  Grand-Duke  Constantine  even  translated 
Shakespeare  into  Russian. 

If  we  turn  from  the  Court  to  the  universities,  we 
shall  find  that  English  literature  and  English  thought 
are  probably  more  profoundly  studied  in  Russia  than 
in  any  other  country.  John  Stuart  Mill  and  Herbert 
Spencer  were  the  favourite  authors  of  the  revolu- 
tionary party,  whilst  the  reactionists  found  in 
English  literature  their  main  inspiration.  The 
leaders  of  the  Panslavist  movement,  who  were  sup- 
posed to  cherish  a  most  venomous  hatred  of  Great 
Britain,  were  really  Anglophils,  and  only  desired 
Russia  to  copy  our  methods.  Even  Skobeleff,  who 
was  always  represented  as  impatiently  longing  to 
conquer  India,  was  a  student  of  our  great  writers,  and 
knew  English  perfectly,  admiring  her  people. 

Indeed,  there  is  a  certain  affinity  between  the 
English  and  the  Russian  races.  They  seem  to  under- 
stand each  other,  and  get  on  toge  her.  No  other 
nationality  has  had  such  happy  experiences  in  Russia 
as  the  British.  From  the  early  English  adventurers 
who  founded  the  Russia  Company,  which  is  still 
flourishing,  and  the  splendid  Scottish  pioneers  who 
made  the  name  of  Great  Britain  respected  in  the 
early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  Hughes  family  and  the  New  Russia  Company, 
down  to  the  present  time,  the  English  in  Russia  have 
always  been  popular,  and  have  invariably  done 
well. 


li 


157 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

Of  recent  years  the  Russian  Government  has  made 
efforts  to  attract  British  capital,  special  favours  were 
extended  to  British  investors,  and  special  facilities 
offered  to  British  companies. 

Thus  it  may  be  assumed  that  there  exists  already 
an  excellent  feeling,  and  that  the  ground  has  been 
well  prepared  for  further  mutual  friendship  and 
an  indefinite  development  of  good  relations.  It  is, 
however,  only  fair  to  add  that  there  is  another  side 
to  the  medal. 

That  the  Russians  like  the  British  there  can  be 
no  question.  They  prefer  to  have  commercial 
dealings  with  us  rather  than  with  any  other 
nationality.  They  trust  us,  they  admire  us.  They 
feel  that  an  Enghshman's  word  is  his  bond,  that  he 
is  straight  and  honourable.  They  consider  every 
Englishman  to  be  at  Jieart  a  gentleman,  and  no 
country  more  keenly  appreciates  these  quahties. 
The  British  employer  gets  on  with  Russian  working- 
men  surprisingly  well,  as  no  other  foreigner  does  in 
fact,  but  for  all  that,  all  is  not  as  it  should  be  between 
Russia  and  England. 

There  are  a  number  of  factors  in  existence  which 
have  been  skilfully  manipulated  by  our  German 
competitors  to  promote  their  own  ends,  and  cause 
a  coolness  between  ourselves  and  the  great  Russian 
nation.  In  this  endeavour  Germany  has  been  most 
unexpectedly  assisted  by  the  clumsy  efforts  of  certain 
self-appointed  advocates  of  Russia  in  this  country. 
The  first  line  of  cleavage  was,  of  course,  political. 

158 


BRITISH    PROSPECTS 

We  were  led  to  believe  that  Russia  wanted  India, 
and  would  not  be  happy  till  she  got  it.  This  idea 
was  obviously  hypnotically  suggested  by  people  who 
were  anxious  to  keep  us  apart,  for  the  rest  of  the 
world  has  not  been  slow  to  realise  that  if  Great 
Britain  and  Russia  were  to  become  friends  they 
could  control  the  destinies  of  the  entire  eastern 
hemisphere.  For  this  reason  England  and  Russia 
have  been  hounded  against  each  other,  and  countless 
occult  influences  have  been  at  work  to  promote  ill- 
feehng  between  the  two  countries.  The  pity  of  it 
is  that  they  should  have  had  even  partial  success. 
That  they  did  succeed  in  creating  a  feeling  of  mutual 
distrust  cannot  be  disputed. 

Another  source  of  friction  between  England  and 
Russia  was  the  very  friendly  reception  which  we 
accorded  to  Russian  political  refugees,  and  the 
cordial  support  which  we  gave  to  their  views.  While 
the  Conservatives  in  this  country  were  always  talking 
about  Russia's  designs  on  India,  the  Liberals  were 
bestowing  their  S5niipathy  on  the  interesting  Nihilists 
who  were  engaged  in  plotting  to  murder  her  rulers. 
Then  came  the  Jew-baiting  period,  when  it  pleased 
certain  Machiavellian  Russian  statesmen  of  German 
origin,  like  Plehve  for  instance,  to  conduct  the 
national  discontent  into  what  were  considered 
innocuous  channels.  The  pogroms  were  but  a 
passing  incident  in  the  national  life  of  Russia,  but 
powerfully  affected  the  British  imagination,  and 
created  the  feeling  that  the  Russian  people  were 

159 


V 


«i 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

barbarians,  and  could  not  be  regarded  as  a  civilised 
country.  Since  then  a  people  which  considers  itself 
as  the  most  highly-cultured  nation  in  the  world  has 
committed  calculated  atrocities  compared  with 
which  the  Jew-baiting  of  the  Russians  is  rendered 
insignificant. 

These  have  been  the  causes  of  political  ill-feeling 
between  the  two  countries.  But  there  have  also 
been  financial  factors  at  work.  From  time  to  time 
the  British  public  have  been  visited  by  booms  and 
slumps,  until  we  have  got  quite  accustomed  to  their 
periodic  recurrence.  What  was  once  called  the 
Kaffir  Circus  familiarised  us  with  the  ups  and  downs 
of  the  Stock  Exchange,  and  we  felt  no  resentment 
against  the  astute  gentlemen  who  by  manipulating 
the  market  succeeded  in  getting  more  gold  out  of 
the  pockets  of  the  pubHc  than  was  ever  to  be  found 
in  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  When,  however,  the 
scene  was  laid  in  Russia,  and  the  gambling  counters 
were  no  longer  confined  to  gold  shares,  but  even 
included  oil,  people  began  to  shake  their  heads  and 
talk  of  the  iniquity  of  Russia.  They  did  not  stop 
to  reflect  that  the  iniquity  might  possibly  be  found 
to  reside  much  nearer  home.  Russia,  on  the  other 
hand,  has  had  cause  to  lament  the  up-to-date 
methods  of  certain  British  financiers. 

And  so  it  comes  about  that  we  have  mutually  to 
forgive  each  other  a  good  deal.  But  Russia  is  not 
a  resentful  nation,  and  the  Russian  people  like  the 
English. 

1 60 


BRITISH    PROSPECTS 

If  we  desire  to  profit  by  the  present  trend  of  events, 
and  recapture  the  friendship,  which  we  have  gone 
perilously  near  alienating,  of  a  great  and  generous 
nation,  we  must  be  prepared  to  act  promptly  and 
speedily.    One  of  the  most  important  and  immediate 
steps  to  be  taken  is  to  set  to  work  to  learn  the 
Russian  language.    There  exists  a  foolish  prejudice 
to  the  effect  that  the  Russian  language  is  hard  to 
pronounce  and  difficult  to  learn,  and  that  it  is  hope- 
less to  try  to  attempt  it.    This  is  absolutely  false. 
Russian  is  for  English  people  a  much  easier  language 
to  acquire  than  either  German  or  French,  both  of 
which  have  so  many  words  in  common  with  our  own. 
The  reason  is  simple  and  obvious.    The  spirit  of  the 
Russian  language  is  more  akin  to  that  of  English 
than  either  of  the  two  others.     I  have  found  in 
'  Russia  that  of  all  foreigners  it  is  the  British  who 
seem  to  master  the  language  more  rapidly  and  speak 
it  more  fluently  than  any  other  nationality.    Indeed, 
this  is  not  surprising,  for  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  we 
have  the  reputation  of  being  poor  linguists,   and 
rarely  take  the  trouble  to  speak  any  other  language 
besides  our  own,  when  we  are  put  to  it  and  compelled 
to  do  so  we  can  pick  up  foreign  tongues  with  remark- 
able ease.    Our  Indian  officers  and  civil  servants  have 
no  difficulty  in  acquiring  native  dialects.   In  China  it 
is  the  English  who  speak  the  language  best,  and  the 
same  holds  good  of  Persia  and  Turkey.    That  being 
the  case,  do  not  let  us  shy  at  so  simple  a  language 
as  Russian.     Whether  we  like  it  or  not  we  must 


11 


161 


I%! 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

learn  to  speak  it,  for  unless  we  become  the  close 
friends  of  Russia  we  shall  have  cause  to  regret  it  for 
more  than  one  reason. 

Having  trained  a  number  of  young  men  in  a  know- 
ledge of  Russian,  we  must  send  them  out  to  Russia 
to  push  our  wares,  further  our  interests,  and  report 
on  the  openings  which  will  from  time  to  time  present 
themselves   for   British   capital,   for   Russia   wants 
capital  to   develop  her  undoubted  and  boundless 
mineral  and  other  resources.    From  the  point  of  view 
of  Western  European  industrialism   Russia  is  but 
in  her  infancy.     She  needs  development  in  every 
direction.     As  she  increases  in  prosperity,  and  her 
population  find  their  wants  grow,  we  must  be  at  hand 
to  help  her  either  to  supply  those  wants  from  abroad 
or  to  erect  factories  to  supply  them  herself ;  for  Russia 
will  not   rest   content   to   remain   a   raw  material 
country,  she  is  rapidly  becoming  a  manufacturing 
nation,  and  in  this  direction  she  needs  the  technical 
assistance  of  experienced  experts.    Consequently  we 
must  send  our  representatives  into  the  country,  we 
must  found  commercial  businesses,  we  must  estabhsh 
industries.     Already  our  enterprising  engineers  are 
building  factories,  harbours  and  railways  there.    This 
is  but  the  beginning  of  a  prolonged  and  mutually 
profitable    commercial   and    technical    intercourse, 
which  as  time  goes  on  will  and  must  grow  in  volume 

and  importance. 

We  shall  be  wise  in  avoiding  speculative  enterprises, 
enterprises  dependent  on  the  booming  operations  of 

162 


BRITISH    PROSPECTS 

Stock  Exchange  manipulators,  and  should  devote  our 
energies  solely  to  the  promotion  of  sound  business. 
Our  forefathers,  who  adopted  this  policy,  and 
founded  a  number  of  splendid  businesses  in  Russia, 
had  no  cause  to  regret  it ;  and  neither  shall  we,  so 
long  as  we  are  prudent  and  conciliatory,  and  take 
the  trouble  to  study  and  investigate  the  field  before 
plunging  into  business  there.  While  money  has  been 
made  in  Russia,  much  money  has  also  been  lost 
through  thoughtlessness  and  wild  speculation. 

The  appended  translation  of  an  article  in  a 
recent  number  of  a  German  technical  journal  is 
interesting  as  showing  how  the  Germans  view  the 
prospects  there : — 

THE  PROSPECTS  OF  EXPLOSIVES  IN  EUROPEAN 

AND    ASIATIC    RUSSIA.* 

By  SiGMUND  Kaufmann, 

Russia  is  the  land  of  impossibilities,  and  this  applies  more 
especially  to  the  domain  of  explosives.  What  is  absolutely 
impossible  in  other  countries  is  here  often  regarded  as 
natural.  No  country  in  the  world  has  so  many  paragraphs 
in  the  Penal  Code  as  Russia.  The  judge  has  an  enormous 
library  of  legal  books  at  his  disposal,  of  which  he  can  only 
know  the  titles.  Nevertheless,  there  is  no  country  where  the 
law  can  be  more  easily  eluded.  In  Russia  the  explosives 
legislation  has  been  framed  in  imitation  of  the  Austrian, 
with  all  the  severities  of  the  latter.  It  is  nevertheless  most 
kindly  observed  by  the  mining  authorities,  especially  the 
officials,  such  as  mining  inspectors,  etc.,  which  is  partly  due 
to  the  amiable  character  of  the  Russian,  and  partly  to  the 

♦  Zeitschrift  fur  das  gesamte  SchiesS'Und  Sprengsfoffwesen 
(General  Review  for  Explosives),  No.  11,  June  ist,  1915. 

163 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

constant  social  intercourse  which  the  officials  maintain  with 
factory  managers,  mining  engineers,  and  railway  con- 
structors, etc.  This  is  also  gratefully  recognised  by  all 
those  who  have  anything  to  do  with  explosives. 

The  use  of  explosives  in  Russia  has  become  quite  enormous 
in  recent  years,  it  has  grown  considerably  from  year  to  year, 
but  cannot  be  indicated  in  figures  as  accurate  statements 
are  not  available.  Nevertheless,  it  is  quite  certain  that  the 
imports  of  explosives  (both  high  and  safety  explosives) 
greatly  exceed  the  production  in  Russia,  in  spite  of  the 
considerable  duty  of  4  rbls.  50  per  poud  (36  lb.  English). 
This  large  consumption  of  explosives  is  a  consequence  of 
the  considerable  increase  of  the  mining  industry  of  recent 
years,  especially  in  the  Ural,  where  foreigners,  and  especially 
Englishmen,  have  taken  large  interests  in  the  mining 
undertakings,  as  well  as  to  the  large  number  of  new  railways 
in  process  of  construction  in  Russia,  Siberia,  Central  and 
East  Russia,  which  involve  heavy  tunnelling.  It  is  difficult 
to  form  an  idea  of  the  enormous  length  of  new  lines  which 
are  being  projected,  and  indeed  mostly  just  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  war.  In  consequence  of  the  deficiency  in 
explosives  and  certainly  also  of  labour,  they  are  probably 
now  entirely  suspended.  The  enumeration  of  the  most 
prominent  lines  may  give  some  picture  of  the  gigantic  net 
of  railways,  the  continuation  and  completion  of  which 
awaits  Russia  after  the  conclusion  of  peace. 

The  strategic  Black  Sea  Railway  from  the  ports  of  the 
Caucasus  along  the  Black  Sea  from  Tuapse,  a  railway  of 
first  engineering  importance,  with  no  less  than  twenty-three 
tunnels,  of  which  three  alone  have  a  length  of  from  two  to 
three  kilometres,  the  construction  of  which  has  been  taken 
over  by  a  large  Paris  contracting  firm,  whilst  the  small 
tunnels  will  be  carried  out  by  various  Russian  contractors, 
will  require  the  entire  production  of  an  explosive  factory, 
as  the  consumption  is  calculated  at  about  20,000  pouds 
(720,000  lb.).  The  Black  Sea  Railway  Administration  has 
already  petitioned  the  Government  for  permission  to  import 
half  the  quantity  of  safety  explosives  from  Germany.  The 
strategic  railway  of  Buchara  in  Central  Asia  will  have  three 


164 


\ 


BRITISH    PROSPECTS 


giant  tunnels,  which  are  to  be  erected  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  the  engineer  of  the  New  York  Railway,  Captain 
Haugh,  for  which  10,000  pouds  of  safety  explosives  are  being 
imported  from  Germany.     Another  railway  is  in  process  of 
construction  in   Siberia,   from  Atshinsk  Minnusinsk  to  a 
length  of  1,200  kilometres,  which  is  calculated  to  absorb  for 
its  open  and  tunnel  work  a  consumption  of  about  8,000  to 
10,000    pouds    of   explosives.     The    Sevenret    Railway   in 
Central  Asia,  of  a  length  of  800  kilometres,  requires  certainly 
much  less  explosives  as  compared  with  the  other  lines.     On 
the  other  hand,  the  Moscow  Kasan  Railway  still  require 
considerable   quantities   for   the   construction   of  the   two 
lines  which  are  in  progress.     Of  the  North  and  East  Ural 
Railway  the  two  together  are  1,200  kilometres  long.  Further, 
there  is  the  Amur  Railway,  1,400  kilometres  long,  which  has 
taken   six   years   to   build    under   excessive   difficult  local 
conditions,  which  is  now  approaching  completion,  but  will 
certainly    still    require    explosives.     The    projected    Lena 
Railway    (about    2,000    kilometres    from  Irkutsk  (Siberia) 
along  the  Lena  River  up  to  the  famous  gold-fields  of  the 
Lenci   Company   near   Bodeiba,    will   also   consume   much 
explosives.     Add  to  these  the  military  connecting  railway 
to  Sweden,  over  10,000  kilometres  are  comprised  in  these 
lines,  a  figure  which  will  be  actually  considerably  increased. 
Among  these  a  large  number  of  tunnels  are  included,  and 
it  may  be  easy  to  imagine  what  enormous  quantities  of 
explosives  will  be  required. 

Large  quantities  of  explosives  will  also  be  required  for 
various  large  canal  schemes,  such  as  the  connection  of  the 
Black  Sea  with  the  Baltic,  the  regulation  of  the  Dnieper  and 
the  Volga,  to  say  nothing  of  the  blasting  operations 
necessitated  in  the  Gulf  of  Finland  by  the  proposed  widening 
of  the  channel  and  the  fortification  works  at  Hango,  Sweborg 
and  Reval. 

Of  the  mines  which  have  so  greatly  increased  their  output 
the  Kishtim  copper  mines  should  be  mentioned  first.  They 
are  to-day  the  largest  copper  mines  in  Europe,  consuming 
annually  as  much  as  15,000  pouds  of  explosives.  Further, 
the  Sivertsky  mines  (Ural)  may  now  be  regarded  as  very 

165 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

important;  these,  like  the  Kishtim  mines,  were  turned  a 
couple  of  years  ago   into    an  Anglo-Russian  Joint  Stock 
Company.     In  Siberia  two  new  mining  enterprises,  founded 
chiefly  in  the  far  east,  will  also  require  large  quantities  of 
explosives,    but    their    combined    consumption    will    not 
approach  that  of  the  Lena  gold-fields,  which  consume  from 
3,000  to  4,000  pouds  of  explosives  annually.     Some  idea  of 
the  productive  capacity  and  profit  yield  of  these  gold-fields 
may  be  obtained  if  we  remember  that  the  present  managing 
engineer,  a  Frenchman,  Peret  by  name,  is  the  best  salaried 
mining    engineer    in    the    whole    of    Russia,    and    is    paid 
100,000  rbls.  per  annum.     The  consumption  of  the  Lena 
gold-fields  is  only  exceeded  in  the  far  east  by  that  of  the 
East  China  Railway,  now  in  process  of  construction  under 
the  auspices  of  the  well-known  Italian  contractor  Gibello, 
who  requires  approximately  10,000  pouds  for  his  tunnelling 
operations.     A    similar    quantity    will    be    needed    in    the 
gigantic    fortification    walls    of    Vladivostok,    w^hich    are 
estimated  to  take  two  years  to  carry  out. 

How  is  this  enormous   Russian  demand   of  explosives 
covered  ?     The  explosives  factories  existing  in  Russia  are  : 
The  Russian  Co.,  formerly  Nobel,  at  Schluesselburg,  near 
Petrograd  ;    the  A.  G.  Winner  &  Co.,  at  Sablino  in  the 
Petrograd    district ;      further    in    Southern    Russia    the 
"Franco-Russia  Favier  Co.-G."  ;    whilst  the  Government 
Powder  Works  at  Okhta,  near  Petrograd  (celebrated  for  its 
proverbial  monthly  explosions),  the  Tula  Factory  and  the 
gigantic  new  powder  works  in  the  Province  of  Vladimir, 
belonging   to   the   recently-constituted    Powder   Company 
Baranovsky  Limited,  are  virtually  monopolised  by  the  State. 
Hence  the  demand   can  only  be  partly   covered  by  the 
Russian  factories,  and  hence  Russia  is  compelled  to  look  to 
Germany  for  the  supply  of  the  largest  portion  of  her  re- 
quirements.    The  Russian  explosives  factories  have  raised 
no  voice  against  foreign  competition,  and  the  authorities 
have   (especially  of  late  years  and  more  especially  with 
reference  to  safety  explosives)  adopted  a  benevolent  attitude 
towards  foreign  imports,  and  have  even  made  propaganda 
for  them.     The  Russian  factories,  which  were  in  any  case 


166 


BRITISH   PROSPECTS 


fully  employed,  have  borne  this  without  a  murmur,  more 
especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  German  supply,  like 
themselves,  and  in  contrast  to  the  German  market,  always 
realised  excellent  prices,  usually  three  times  bigger  than 
those  ruUng  in  Germany.     Of  course,  it  must  not  be  over- 
looked that  the  business  management,  the  actual  selling 
expenses,  is  much  more  costly  than  in  Germany,  and  that 
the  obtaining  of  a  licence  involves  time  and  money,  and 
especially  money.     The  last  consideration  has  possibly  so  far 
deterred  many  a  German  explosive  concern  from  entering 
Russia;   but  this  is  short-sighted   in  a  very  high  degree, 
because  as  already  stated  the  expenses  are  easily  recouped 
with  large  additional  profits,  provided  of  course  that  the 
explosive  has  been  successfully  introduced  in  the  country. 
The  main  condition  for  such  success  is  that  the  explosive 
should    be    unobjectionable    from    the    point    of    view    of 
shattering   force,    safe   handling,    keeping   properties,    and 
insensitiveness  to  blow  and  thrust,  and  can  therefore  be 
truly  described  as  a  safety  explosive.     Several  nitrate  of 
ammonia    powders    have    been    very    successful    in    these 
respects  in  recent  years,  and  are  frequently  preferred  to 
high  explosives  on   account  of  their  greater  safety.     Of 
course,  much  depends  on  the  ability  of  the  introducing 
agent,  who  should  not  only  know  the  country  and  people 
well,  but  must  indispensably  possess  the  necessary  perti- 
nacity and  energy  combined  with  considerable  adroitness. 
If  many  a  good  German  explosive  has  not  hitherto  been 
successful  in  Russia,  tliis  may  with  certainty  be  ascribed  to 
unsuitable  agents.     In  order  to  succeed  it  is  necessary  not 
only  to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  authorities,  but  to  have 
the  requisite  aplomb  with  the  customers,  and  to  explain  to 
them   and    demonstrate   most   fully   the   explosive   to   be 
introduced.     The  following  German  explosives  have  been 
successful  in  Russia,  viz.  ammoncahiicit,  siegenit,  westfalit, 
and  of  those  manufactured  in  Russia,  favier,  mietsiankit, 
and  cheddite  have  done  very  well.     An  attempt  is  to  be 
made  to  introduce  roburite. 

Consequently  it  has  come  to  be  gradually  recognised  that 
the  manufacture  of  safety  explosives  in  Russia  is  not  only  a 


167 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

very  profitable  business,  but  has  become  an  urgent  necessity, 
and  would  give  employment,  in  view  of  the  data  recited 
above,  to  three  large  factories,  with  an  output  of  from  a 
million  to  a  million  and  a  half  kilos.  This  fact  has  f  Iready 
been  fully  grasped  by  several  large  Russian  mining  and 
financial  companies,  who  were  conducting  negotiations  for 
the  purchase  of  foreign  processes  for  the  manufacture  of 
safety  explosives  with  a  view  to  their  introduction  into 
Russia,  but  the  war  broke  out  before  they  could  be 
concluded. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  as  soon  as  peace  is  restored  these 
negotiations  will  be  resumed  all  the  more  eagerly,  seeing 
that  the  war  has  proved  how  greatly  Russia  is  in  need  of 
explosive  manufacturing  facilities.  The  German  explosives 
industry  will  then  have  to  step  in  to  seize  this  opportunity, 
and  not  only  to  retain  the  market  already  conquered,  but 
to  increase  their  scope  and  widen  their  operations,  so  as  to 
exploit  it  thoroughly. 

[Note.— -While  the  author  of  this  article  has 
omitted  to  refer  to  the  Archangel  district,  and  has 
mixed  up  safety  and  ordinary  blasting  explosives, 
he  nevertheless  shows  a  fairly  good  knowledge 
of  the  conditions.] 


t68 


CHAPTER    XIV 


THE   FUTURE 


The  Russian  word  for  glory  is  Slava,  nence  the  Slavs 
are  the  glorious  people.  The  rise  and  progress  of 
this  Slavonic  race,  as  exemplified  in  the  Russian 
Empire,  has  been  indeed  extraordinary.  Russia  has 
spread,  as  it  were,  in  concentric  circles,  imtil  it  has 
reached  the  sea  both  east  and  west,  from  the  Baltic 
to  the  Pacific,  as  well  as  north  and  south,  from 
Archangel  to  Odessa.  It  would  seem  to  be  her 
manifest  destiny  to  spread  still  farther,  southwards 
and  westwards.  The  history  of  the  reawakening  of 
this  Slavonic  Empire  is  the  history  of  the  gradual 
decline  of  Turkish  rule,  the  decay  of  the  Austrian 
Empire,  and  may  be  expected  to  end  in  a  final 
triumph  over  Northern  Germany.  A  curious  fact  to 
be  borne  in  mmd  is  that  defeat  seems  only  to 
strengthen  Russia's  vitality  and  contribute  to  her 
final  success. 

The  gradual  decHne  and  fall  of  the  Turkish  Empire 
has  taken  a  Httle  more  than  two  centuries.  The 
final  emancipation  of  the  Slavonic  races  of  the  Balkan 
Peninsula  was  not  accomplished  until  the  other  day. 
That  emancipation,  as  the  German  Emperor  foresaw, 
if  allowed  to  be  maintained,  must  inevitably  lead 

i6g 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

to  the  break-up  of  Austria  and  the  weakening  of 
Germany,  for  both  empires  hold  Slav  races  in 
bondage. 

In  Austria  the  Kingdom  of  Bohemia  is  Slav  as  well 
as  Moravia,  Croatia,  Slavonia,  Bosnia  and  Herze- 
govina, to  say  nothing  of  Galicia,  the  Bukhovina 
and  Transylvania.  Hungary  is  virtually  a  Slav 
country  which  was  conquered  by  a  nomadic  alien  race, 
who  have  oppressed  the  native  population  ever  since. 
In  North  Germany  the  Duchy  of  Prussia,  as  well  as 
Pomerania,  originally  formed  part  of  Poland,  and 
these  were  Slavonic  countries.  The  aborigines  of 
Brandenburg  v/ere  Wends,  a  Slavonic  race  who 
came  from  the  East,  and  had  gradually  advanced  as 
far  as  Kaernthen  and  Saxony,  and  had  displaced 
the  original  Teutonic  population.  Bismarck  claimed 
to  be  lineally  descended  from  the  Wends. 

The  Russians  believe  it  to  be  their  historic  mission  to 
free  the  Slavonic  races  from  bondage,  and  incidentally 
to  destroy  the  power  of  the  Turkish,  Austrian  and 
German  Empires.  By  his  precipitate  action  the 
impulsive  German  Emperor  has  materially  hastened 
the  accomplishment  of  this  historic  task.  His 
predecessors,  wiser  in  their  generation,  had,  in  order 
to  delay  this  apparently  inevitable  advance  of  Russia, 
endeavoured  with  considerable  success  to  divert  the 
attention  of  their  neighbour  from  her  legitimate 
sphere  of  expansion  to  Eastern  and  Far  Eastern 
lands,  with  a  view  to  embroiling  her  with  Great 
Britain  and  China  and  Japan.    For  many  years  this 


170 


THE   FUTURE 

policy  appeared  to  be  successful,  and  promised  to 
delay  indefinitely  the  advance  westwards  of  the 
Russian  avalanche.  It  was  due  to  the  extraordinarily 
inept  diplomacy  of  Germany's  statesmen  on  the  one 
hand,  and  to  the  awakening  of  Great  Britain  and 
Russia  to  their  true  interests  on  the  other,  that  this 
system  broke  down,  and  that  Russia  suddenly  dis- 
covered that  her  true  opponent  was  not  the  distant, 
liberty-loving  England,  whose  interests  were  supposed 
to  be  ubiquitous,  but  the  neighbouring  and  ostensibly 
friendly  Prussia,  who  was  the  real  enemy. 

The  attitude  of  Prussia  and  Austria,  who  had 
owed  Russia  so  much  in  the  immediate  past,  was  so 
frankly  hostile  to  their  neighbour  during  the  Crimean 
War  that  the  scales  at  last  fell  from  Russian  eyes. 
If  further  proof  was  needed  it  was  forthcoming  some 
twenty  years  later  at  the  Congress  of  BerHn,  where 
Bismarck,  in  his  capacity  of  "  honest  broker,''  pre- 
vented Russia  from  reaping  the  fruits  of  her  victory 
over  Turkey.  It  took  England  some  further  twenty 
years  to  discover  that  in  supporting  the  Ottoman 
Empire  against  the  Slavonic  advance  we  had,  in 
the  happy  ^phrase  of  Lord  Salisbury,  been  "  backing 

the  wTong  horse." 

In  spite,  then,  of  the  views  of  certain  alien  lecturers, 
whose  object  to  embroil  Great  Britain  with  Russia 
was  so  obvious,  and  probably  not  entirely  dis- 
interested, the  true  destiny  of  Russia  was  to  promote 
the  glory  of  the  Glorious,  or  Slav,  race.  It  is  not 
sufficient  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  mission  to 


171 


k 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

'  set  these  various  subjugated  Slavonic  countries  free 
to  create  a  Bulgaria  and  Servia,  to  give  Poland  back 
her  autonomy  and  the  territory  she  has  lost,  to 
establish  an  independent  Kingdom  of  Bohemia,  and 
to  emancipate  Croatia,  Slavonia,  Bosnia  and  Herze- 
govina.    She  must  introduce  a  permanent  peace 
among  all  these  countries,  protect  them  from  their 
avaricious  neighbours  and  from  each  other.     They 
will  have  to  settle  down  as  free  and  representative 
states,    and   have    to    develop    their   resources,    to 
promote  the  well-being  and  culture  of  their  popula- 
tion,  and  co-operate  in  the  encouragement  of  the 
peaceful  arts.    Countries  which  have  been  oppressed 
for  centuries,  and  have  been  the  battle-ground  of 
short-sighted  and  greedy  selfish  intrigues,  cannot  be 
expected  to  be  transformed  suddenly,  and  without 
preparation  and  training,  into  prosperous,  civiHsed 
states  in  the  modem  sense. 

It  is  to-day  growing  increasingly  obvious  that  the 
old  diplomacy  and  the  old  ideas  of  aggrandisement 
have  become  superannuated.     The  policy  of  grab 
and  annexation  has  lost  much  of  its  former  attractive- 
ness, mdeed  it  has  been  found  too  often  to  bring  its 
own  revenge  in  its  train.    Modem  diplomacy  tends 
more  and  more  to  embrace  commercial  ideas.    Every- 
where  Govemments  have  discovered  that  the  only 
tme  object  of  the  State  should  be  to  promote  the 
prosperity  and  weU-being  of  the  people.    It  is  one  of 
the  merits  of  the  much-abused  House  of  Hohen- 
zollem  to  have  clearly  perceived  this  tmth,  and  to 

172 


THE    FUTURE 

have  walked  consistently  for  two  centuries  in  this 
direction,  until  it  was  on  the  point  of  making  its 
people  not  only  pre-eminent  but  practically  invincible 
in  the  domain  of  the  peaceful  arts.  The  fact  that 
the  old  ideas  of  diplomacy  and  conquest  are  out  of 
date  is  strongly  illustrated  by  the  present  war. 
Germany  was  on  the  way  to  conquer  the  world. 
By  her  scientific  method,  her  inteUigent  application 
of  theory  to  practice,  her  unflagging  industry,  her 
unquestionable  astuteness,  and  the  wise  support 
of  a  strong  Government,  she  had  made  herself  felt  in 
every  comer  of  the  globe,  and  was  peacefully  defeating 
her  competitors.  From  being  a  poor,  insignificant 
and  divided  state,  she  had  within  less  than  a  century 
acquired  front  rank  in  the  comity  of  nations.  But 
eighteenth-century  diplomatic  considerations  were 
allowed  to  supervene,  and  to-day  the  German  Empire 
has  already  lost  her  prestige  and  her  most  profitable 
markets. 

It  is  a  lesson  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  Russia  will 
take  to  heart,  for  after  the  termination  of  this  war, 
and  we  all  know  and  are  all  determined  that  there 
shall  and  can  be  only  one  end  to  it,  the  im- 
portance and  influence  of  Russia  will  be  enormously 
enhanced.  Russia,  by  reason  of  being  the  presiding 
nation  of  the  Slavonic  family,  will  take  up  a  place  in 
the  civilised  w^orld  far  more  powerful  than  that  ever 
held  by  Germany.  Some  people  have  even  felt 
misgivings  at  the  prospect,  and  have  timidly  asked 
themselves  what  w^ill  become  of  the  British  Empire 


^73 


I 

« 


fl 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

if  Russia  grows  so  strong  and  great.  These  fears 
are  somewhat  exaggerated ;  they  may,  indeed,  be 
described  as  entirely  uncalled  for,  because  before 
Russia  can  usefully  become  an  aggressive  power  she 
will  have  to  organise  herself  in  her  new  position. 
She  will  have  a  wide  field  for  the  display  of  her 
historic  tact  and  world-famed  diplomacy  to  get  the 
various  new  Slavonic  countries  on  their  legs,  and  to 
get  them  to  live  together  in  harmony  without  bicker- 
ing or  trying  to  elbow  each  other  out  of  existence. 
It  may  be  predicted  that  for  fifty  years  to  come 
Russia  will  have  her  hands  full,  and  that  by  the  end 
of  that  period  the  international  outlook  will  have 
changed  entirely.  For  while  Russia  must  consolidate 
tne  Slavonic  family  of  nations,  she  must  not  neglect 
her  own  people,  and  in  her  own  country  the  growth 
of  representative  institutions  will  alter  the  point  of 
view  of  her  statesmen  and  diplomatists. 

When  the  present  war  is  over  what  will  be  the 
first  and  obvious  duty  of  the  Russian  Government  ? 
To  look  round  for  new  worlds  to  conquer,  or  to 
endeavour  to  develop  the  possessions  she  already 
has  ? 

The  opinion  is  largely  held  that  the  effect  of  the 
present  war  will  be  to  exhaust  the  resources  of  the 
countries  engaged,  and  to  impoverish  them.  Any 
reader  who  has  examined  under  the  microscope  a 
patch  of  human  skin  which  has  suffered  abrasion  or 
injury  must  have  marvelled  at  the  extraordinary 
stimulus  which  appears  to  have  been  thereby  given 

174 


THE    FUTURE 

to  the  activity  of  the  cells,  and  the  remarkable 
activity  and  quickness  with  which  Nature  seems  to 
hurry  to  repair  the  damage.  A  war  is  such  an 
abrasion  of  the  social  organism,  and  its  effect  is 
nearly  always  to  stimulate  the  recuperative  powers 
of  the  nation.  It  is  marvellous  how  rapidly  this 
process  of  recuperation  accomplishes  its  object. 
Now  in  Russia  we  have  a  country  which  is  but 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  intelligent  adventurer  to 
develop  its  latent  wealth. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  educated  classes  of  Russia 
have  been  absorbed  by  the  State ;  on  the  other  hand, 
the  foreign  element  has  had  but  one  aim  and  object : 
to  exploit  the  population,  to  sell  to  them  its  wares, 
and  to  make  money  out  of  them,  which  it  has  not 
spent  in  the  country,  but  has  only  too  frequently 
taken  back  with  it  to  the  foreign  land  from  which 
it  originally  came.  Worse  still,  the  native  aris- 
tocracy have  in  the  past  displayed  a  partiality  for 
dissipating  in  pleasant  places,  Hke  Paris  and  Monte 
Carlo,  the  money  which  they  managed  to  wring  from 
the  toilsome  labours  of  a  sweated  peasantry. 

All  this  has  changed  or  is  in  process  of  change,  and 
of  late  Russia  has  created  a  surprising  volume  of 
capital.  She  is  developing  her  coal,  iron,  gold  and 
oil  fields.  She  is  introducing  modem  machinery  in 
her  agriculture.  She  is  building  railways,  harbours 
and  irrigation  works.  She  has  linked  the  Baltic  with 
the  Pacific  by  means  of  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway, 
and  she  is  on  the  road  to  becoming  the  greatest 


^75 


GLORIOUS    RUSSIA 

transport  country  in  the  world.  The  Trans-Caucasian 
Railway  links  the  Black  Sea,  and  through  that  the 
Mediterranean,  with  Persia.  The  Central  Asian  Rail- 
way  has  virtually  reached  the  frontiers  of  India. 
All  the  territory  traversed  by  these  various  huge 
grand-trunk  railway  systems  is  waiting  to  be  ex- 
ploited, awaiting  the  irrigation  of  capital,  the  peaceful 
development  of  its  resources.  This  development  is 
coming,  it  is  imminent,  for  the  latent  commercial 
instincts  of  the  Russian  nation,  the  spirit  of  the 
merchants  of  the  Volga,  of  the  citizens  of  the  old 
Hanseatic  towns  and  commercial  repubhcs,  such  as 
Novgorod  for  instance,  has  been  awakened.  Russia 
has  got  over  her  teething  troubles.  Her  political 
infancy  was  marked  by  fits,  or  spasms,  to  which  the 
strongest  children  are  usually  subject.  She  broke  out 
in  an  irruption  of  Nihihsm,  and  then  went  through 
a  period  of  other  national  infantile  diseases,  such  as 
Jew-baiting,  agricultural  disturbances,  labour 
troubles,  etc.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that  she  will  now 
settle  down  to  grow  and  gain  strength  and  take 
nourishment. 

One  of  the  greatest  undeveloped  sources  of  wealth 
in  the  world  is  just  about  to  fall  into  her  lap,  thanks 
to  the  futile  diplomacy  which  drove  Turkey  into 
war.  The  region  of  Asia  Minor  known  as  Armenia 
in  ancient  times,  but  recently  renamed  Kurdistan, 
is  one  of  extraordinary  wealth  of  every  kind,  both 
mineral  and  vegetable.  I  am  informed  by  Armenians 
that  the  moimtains  of  that  region  contain  copper, 

176 


THE   FUTURE 

iron  and  gold  in  large  quantities.  Thanks  to  the 
non-progressive  rule  of  the  Turk  and  his  oppression 
of  the  native  Armenian,  the  natural  resources  of  this 
virtually  virgin  country  have  not  even  been  touched. 
The  young  Turks  were  on  the  point  of  developing 
the  region,  and  building  roads  and  railways  to  open 
it  out,  but  their  love  of  political  intrigue  was  too 
strong  for  them,  and  they  stopped  at  their  intentions. 

From  Trebizond  there  runs  the  great  caravan 
route  which  goes  through  Erzeroum  to  Tabreez- 
Teheran,  and  then  branches  off  to  Meshed  for 
Afghanistan  and  India,  the  main  road  continuing  to 
Ispahan  in  the  south.  This  caravan  route  is  the 
main  artery  of  traffic  between  East  and  West.  Here 
there  is  an  opening  for  a  line  from  Kars  to  Erzeroum, 
to  be  continued  through  Van  to  Tabreez,  to  connect 
with  the  Persian  railway  system  which  is  in  course 
of  being  projected. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  outline  the  immeasurable 
possibilities  of  Russia  in  the  Near  East.  The  Slav  races 
of  the  Balkan  Peninsula  have  an  equally  fine  future 
before  them,  and  possess  in  the  Balkans  a 
mai*vellously  rich  country,  much  of  the  wealth  of 
which  has  not  even  been  as  yet  so  much  as  suspected. 

Along  the  lines  of  peaceful  development  the 
Slavonic  race  has  an  enormous  future  before  it,  a 
future  of  useful  activity,  of  commercial  growth.  In 
the  new  undertakings  which  are  awaiting  her  enter- 
prise she  will  require  capital,  and  she  knows  that 
this  is  in  the  first  place  her  greatest  need.     She  has 


13 


177 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 


THE   FUTURE 


for  the  last  few  years  been  looking  towards  England 
for  that  aid  which  she  requires.  She  has  established 
branches  of  her  banks  in  London,  in  order  to  get  in 
touch  with  the  British  money  market,  but  the 
response  has  so  far  been  rather  disappointing.  If  we 
are  wise  we  shall  rise  to  the  occasion,  and  benefit  by 
the  exceptional  opportunity  presented  by  the  present 
concatenation  of  circumstances,  and  become  the 
friends  and  partners  of  Russia  in  her  great  civilising 
mission. 

Of  course,  we  are  still  a  little  distrustful  of  that 
Empire.  We  still  look  upon  the  Russian  diplomatist 
as  a  marvel  of  astuteness,  and  we  still  think  that  the 
one  aim  and  object  of  Russia  is  to  get  the  better  of 
us.  That  there  ever  was  a  school  of  diplomatists  in 
Russia  who  had  taken  Mettemichlbr  their  pattern, 
and  were  as  full  of  duphcity,  as  untrustworthy  and 
as  short-sighted  as  he,  may  be  true,  but  the  whole 
aspect  of  Russian  politics  has  changed.  To-day 
Russia  has  come  forward  in  her  true  national  colours, 
and  has  emancipated  herself  from  the  German 
swaddling  clothes  which  formerly  hampered  her 
movements  and  warped  her  judgment.  To-day  she 
sees  the  dream  of  two  centuries  on  the  point  of 
reahsation.  The  emancipation  of  the  Slav  race  from 
the  foreign  yoke  is  on  the  eve  of  accomplishment, 
and  when  that  has  been  attained,  and  her  aim 
achieved,  there  will  be  no  more  occasion  for  tortuous 
diplomacy ;  moreover,  there  will  be  no  friendly 
neighbour  to  suggest  it,  nor  suspected  enemy  on  which 

178 


M    i 


to  practise  it.  Russia  will  be  able  to  proceed 
harmoniously  and  grandly  on  her  historical  path. 
As  I  have  hinted,  she  will  have  plenty  of  scope  for 
diplomacy  among  her  own  kindred  for  some  years 
to  come.  If  she  is  preserved  from  internal  strife,  but 
allows  the  natural  evolution  of  her  liberties  to 
proceed  quietly  and  normally,  she  will  be  the  most 
powerful  country  in  Europe  and  Asia,  she  will  be 
absolutely  self-contained  and  as  independent  of  the 
rest  of  the  world  as  America,  and  she  will  contribute 
enormously  to  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the 
inhabited  globe.  Let  us  hope  that  our  people  and 
the  people  of  Russia  will  mutually  assist  in  pro- 
moting this  wealth  and  prosperity,  and  by  learning 
to  know  each  other  more  intimately  acquire  that 
mutual  affection  which  is  bound  to  ensue,  and  is 
the  true  basis  of  a  lasting  alliance. 

Should  the  fates  have  another  destiny  in  store  for 
Russia,  I  can  well  imagine  how  easily  her  grand 
empire  of  to-day,  with  its  magnificent  resources, 
noble  mission  and  splendid  future,  may  follow  the 
downward  path  of  decline  which  so  many  other 
world  empires  have  followed,  but  I  should  certainly 
have  no  feafs  for  ourselves. 

There  is  the  danger  that  the  reactionary  forces  in 
the  country  may  prevail,  that  the  victorious  section 
will  seek  to  add  to  its  glories  by  further  conquests, 
and  retain  by  force  what  it  has  won  by  force. 
History  teaches  a  curious  lesson,  which  statesmen  are 
too  prone  to  ignore,  and  that  is  that  an  empire  which 

179 


I 


M 


GLORIOUS   RUSSIA 

is  built  up  by  force  alone,  and  relies  on  force  alone, 
has  but  a  very  sorry  foundation,  soon  begins  to  rot 
at  the  core,  and  is  bound  to  come  to  grief.  Similarly 
a  nation  which  has  become  so  wedded  to  the  peaceful 
arts  that  it  has  allowed  its  muscles  to  grow  soft  and 
its  defences  to  get  weak,  is  in  danger  of  internal 
decay  and  external  defeat. 

The  ideal  condition  is  the  happy  medium,  the 
strong  state,  strong  in  the  affection  of  its  people, 
strong  in  the  consciousness  of  its  own  strength, 
strong  in  its  policy  of  non-aggression. 

Such  an  empire  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
and  hope  Russia  may  become.  As  her  people  grow 
in  political  knowledge,  in  education  and  well-being, 
they  will  recognise  that  the  happiness  of  a  nation 
lies  in  peaceful  progression,  and  not  in  an  aggressive 
policy  of  conquest  and  grab. 

Fortunately  the  present  Emperor,  the  founder  of 
the  Peace  Congress  at  the  Hague,  the  humane  and 
enhghtened  benefactor  of  over  a  hundred  millions 
of  loyal  subjects,  is  a  ruler  in  whose  wisdom  and 
benevolence  Russia  can  have  every  confidence. 


FRINTING   OFFICE   OF   THK    ft'OLISHERS 


RECENT    BOOKS    ON    RUSSIA. 

The  Religion  of  Russia.      5/. 

By  Q.  B.  H.  BISHOP,    Vicar  of  Cardington. 

Dedicated  to  the  Bishop  of  London. 

Foap.  4to.  Illustrated  by  Woodcuts  and  Photos. 

"  Nothing  could  be  more  opportune  than  the  publication  of  Mr.  G.  B.  H.  Bishop's 

remarkable   book.      .     .     .     The  volume  is  beautifully   printed  and  copiously 

illustrated."— TAtf  Standard. 

THE    SOCIETY  OF    SS.   PETER   AND   PAUL, 
32  George   Street,  Hanover  Square,  London,   W. 

A  Russian  Manual.     cioth2/.  net 

Grammar,  Exercises,  Reading  Extracts  with  literal  interlinear  translation, 
and  Russian-English  and  English-Russian  Vocabularies. 

By   J.    H.    FREESE,    M.A.  (Oxon.). 

Line^^upon^Line  Russian  Reader. 

By  Col.   A.   W.   JAMIESON.  Cloth  2/6  net. 

List  of  other  Russian  Manuals  on  request. 
KEGAN  PAUL,  TRENCH,  TRUBNER  &  CO.  LTD.,  LONDON. 

PICTURE  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN. 

With  130  Ulustrations. 

MORE  RUSSIAN  PICTURE  TALES. 

'*"""~  With  134  niustrations. 

STILL  MORE  RUSSIAN  PICTURE  TALES. 

""— — — ^""""""  With  140  lUustrations. 

By   VALERY   CARRICK. 

Translated  by  NEVILL   FORBES. 

Impl.  i6mo, 

Coloured  Picture  Boards, 

2/6  net  each. 

**  For   pure    charm    they 
rival  the  best  of  Grimm,** 

— The  Bookman. 

"  Therf  must  be  many  people  who  are 
anxious  just  n^Kii  to  get  a  pleasanter 
flimpse  of  the  Russian  people  than  tfte 
horrors  of  War  or  the  '  Brothers  Kara- 
masov  '  can  give  them,  and  no  more 
delightful  -way  could  be  recommendid 
th%n  is  afforded  by  these  little  books.' ' — 
The  Daily  News. 

• 

OXFORD  :    B.   H.   BLACKWELL,    BROAD    STREET. 


if 


BOOKS  ABOUT  RUSSIA  AND  ITS  PEOPLE. 

Thirty-five  Years  in  Russia. 

By    GEOROE    HUME. 

Illustrated    by    Photographs    and    Map. 

Demy  8vo.     Cloth.      10s.  6d.  net. 

"  Thirty- five  Years  in  Russia  is  that  rare  thing  in  our  literature, 
a  book  written  by  a  substantial  and  representative  Briton,  who 
has  no  axe  to  grind  and  favours  no  type  of  political  propaganda." 
— The  Times. 

The  Russian  Empire  of  To-day 

and   Yesterday, 

By    NEVIN    O.    WINTER. 

Demy  8vo.       Cloth.       10s.  6d.  net. 

Russia's  War  Minister. 

The  Life  and  Work  of 
Vladimir   Alexandrovitsh    Soukhomlinov. 

By  V.   D.   DOUMBADZE. 

2s.  6d.  net. 

"  .  .  .  .  The  author  of  Russia's  War  Minister  has  done 
his  country  a  real  service  by  rendering  accessible  to  English 
readers  his  sympathetic  portrait  of  one  of  the  finest  soldiers  in 
Europe " — Times. 

Russia  and  the  Russian  People. 

••  Nations  of  the  War  "  Sbries. 

By   L.    G.   REDMOND   HOWARD. 

Is.  net. 


A   Short  History   of  Poland. 

By  Dr.  A.  S.  RAPPOPORT. 

With  Illttstrations  and  Map.  5s.  net. 

"It  is  of  interest  and  value  at  the  present  time,  while  its 
usefulness  for  the  reader  with  Uttle  leisure  is  enhanced  by  two 
admirable  concluding  chapters  in  which  the  author  rapidly 
surveys  the  political  hfe  and  social  conditions  of  Poland." — 

Scotsman. 


SIMPKIN,  MARSHALL,  HAMILTON,  KENT  &  CO.  LIMITED. 


SOLDIERS  OF  THE  TSAR. 

By   JULIUS    WEST. 

A  book  of  sketches  and  studies  on  the  Russia 
of  to-day,  partly  amusing,  partly  serious,  and 
based  entirely  upon  personal  observation. 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS   BY  JEAN    CLAIREAU. 

Gilt  Cloth.     Crown  Svo.      2s.  6d.  net. 


"  Gives  an  excellent  idea  of  the  people  and  the  country.  The 
author's  attitude  is  both  sympathetic  and  sensible,  his  work 
distinctive  and  vivid." — The  Times. 

"  A  useful  and  interesting  book,  should  prove  very  helpful  in 
enabling  English  readers  to  form  right  judgments  on  the  present 
situation." — The  Bookseller. 

"  Interesting  as  the  record  of  a  shrewd  observer.  May  help 
us  to  realise  the  tremendous  pressure  of  events  which  we  see 
only  dimly  and  from  outside." — Manchester  Guardian. 

'*  Vivid  sketches  full  of  illuminating  description. "—r. P. '5 
Weekly. 

"  An  interesting  and  in  many  parts  entertaining  book ;  is 
a  very  interesting  half-crown's  worth."— TAe  Star. 

"  Depicts  the  land  and  the  people  from  the  standpoint  of 
personal  observation."— T//^  Westminster  Gazette. 

"Just  the  type  of  book  which  should  appeal  to  the  taste 
of  the  public;  equally  attractive  to  layman  and  student."— 
The  Evening  News. 

"  Will  have  a  large  audience." — Daily  Graphic. 


THE  IRIS  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

London:    30/31   Furnival  Street,   Holborn.  E.G. 


I!! 


Vol.  I,  No.  1  Published  September,  1916. 

CiDentletl)  Otiturp  Russia 


an^ 


jitifllo  Russian  RcDieu). 


ONE    SHILLING     NET. 


THE  Publishers  bring  to  your  notice  the  above  Review,  which 
has  been  inaugurated  with  the  intention  of  acquainting  the 
British  public  with  Russia  as  she  really  is,  and  of  giving 
reliable  and  first-hand  information  to  all  those  who  are  interested  in 
Great  Britain's  new  ally.  The  contributions  will,  for  the  most  part, 
be  written  by  Russians  who  know  their  own  country  intimately. 
The  Editor  hopes  to  be  able  to  publish  articles  and  studies  on 
Russian  life  and  thought  from  the  pens  of  eminent  Russian  men  of 
letters,  journalists,  economists,  politicians,  members  of  the  Duma, 
and  intellectuals  such  as  M.  de  Kovalevsky,  Milyoukov,  Struve, 
Professor  Vinogradov,  and  others. 

Twentieth  Century  Russia  will  thus  acquaint  its  readers  not 
only  with  the  internal  state  of  affairs  in  Russia,  but  also  with  the 
needs  and  requirements  of  the  country.  The  Review  will  appeal  to 
all  classes  of  readers — to  the  British  student  of  history  and 
economics,  as  well  as  to  the  merchant,  the  manufacturer,  and 
financier,  and,  while  dealing  with  questions  of  serious  import, 
articles  of  a  lighter  and  more  popular  character  will  also  be  included. 

The  Review  will  be  issued  so  far  as  the  first  four  numbers  are 
concerned  as  a  quarterly,  after  which  it  is  hoped  to  publish  it 
monthly. 

The  Publishers  will  forward  to  subscribers  the  four  quarterly 
issues,  post  free,  on  receipt  of  postal  order  for  5/-  addressed  to 

JOHN    BALE,    SONS    &    DANIELSSON,    LTD., 

Oxford  House,  83-91  Great  Titchfield  Street, 
Oxford  Street,  London,  W., 

Or  copies  may  be  ordered  from  any  Bookseller. 


i 


11^ 

•1*1  i 

r 


K 


Vol.  i,  No.  1  Published  September.  1916. 

CiDentletl)  Onturp  Russia 


an^ 


jlndlo  Russian  ReDieu). 


ONE    SHILLING     NET. 


THE  Publishers  bring  to  your  notice  the  above  Review,  which 
has  been  inaugurated  with  the  intention  of  acquainting  the 
British  public  with  Russia  as  she  really  is,  and  of  giving 
reliable  and  first-hand  information  to  all  those  who  are  interested  in 
Great  Britain's  new  ally.  The  contributions  will,  for  the  most  part, 
be  written  by  Russians  who  know  their  own  country  intimately. 
The  Editor  hopes  to  be  able  to  publish  articles  and  studies  on 
Russian  life  and  thought  from  the  pens  of  eminent  Russian  men  of 
letters,  journalists,  economists,  politicians,  members  of  the  Duma, 
and  intellectuals  such  as  M.  de  Kovalevsky,  Milyoukov,  Struve, 
Professor  Vinogradov,  and  others. 

Twentieth  Century  Russia  will  thus  acquaint  its  readers  not 
only  with  the  internal  state  of  affairs  in  Russia,  but  also  with  the 
needs  and  requirements  of  the  country.  The  Review  will  appeal  to 
all  classes  of  readers — to  the  British  student  of  history  and 
economics,  as  well  as  to  the  merchant,  the  manufacturer,  and 
financier,  and,  while  dealing  with  questions  of  serious  import, 
articles  of  a  lighter  and  more  popular  character  will  also  be  included. 

The  Review  will  be  issued  so  far  as  the  first  four  numbers  are 
concerned  as  a  quarterly,  after  which  it  is  hoped  to  publish  it 
monthly. 

The  Publishers  will  forward  to  subscribers  the  four  quarterly 
issues,  post  free,  on  receipt  of  postal  order  for  5/-  addressed  to 

JOHN    BALE,    SONS    &    DANIELSSON,    LTD., 

Oxford  House,  83-91  Great  Titchfield  Street, 
Oxford  Street,  London,  W., 

Or  copies  may  be  ordered  from  any  Bookseller. 


1^ 

■"5 


ii 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 


1010654690 


WAR  1  1  jg54 


J* 


m 


!i    V 


